


When We Meet in the Other World

by DiamondWings



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 00-line are soulmates, Dream worlds, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Mythical Beings, Only in the dream world, Parallel Universes, Soulmate AU, Soulmates meet in a parallel world when asleep, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 99,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Scattered across the globe and without ever having met each other, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin find themselves together in a mythical dream world whenever they fall asleep. From not realizing the others are as real as they are themselves to falling in love with strangers only met in dreams, none of them are ready when they risk losing the only connection they have with each other as the dream world they are tasked to protect threatens to disappear. What can four twenty-year-olds do to save a whole world if they can hardly take care of themselves, though?>>> Story has been edited to replace a character. If I missed any mention of him, please let me know! <<<
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix
Comments: 215
Kudos: 184





	1. A Whole New World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thequietrecluse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequietrecluse/gifts).



> This story is for [the quietrecluse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequietrecluse/pseuds/thequietrecluse) <3

With a smile on his lips, Hyunjin put his phone down to charge for the night and turned around in bed to finally sleep. He was 20 now, as of 15 minutes ago, and even though his best friend couldn’t be physically here tonight to obnoxiously barge into his room at midnight and throw himself on top of him, likely bruising one of his body parts or another with a stray knee or elbow as he wished him a happy birthday, he had at least called with an obnoxious trot version of a happy birthday song. All was well in the world, and he could go to sleep happily.

It didn’t take him long to drift off and the familiar dark warmth of unconsciousness to envelop him. Only… It didn’t last long, before he blinked his eyes open again to a muted light surrounding him. His eyes adjusted quickly to the lighting, and he did a double take; this was not his room he was in. This wasn’t even a room, it was… It must be some sort of… of cave? And he was lying on the floor in the middle of it, though it was in no way uncomfortable, or dirty, for that matter.

The unfamiliar surroundings made him nervous, though, and he scrambled to his feet. It was slightly chilly, too, and he found himself wishing he had worn warmer clothes to bed when he’d gone to sleep, but who could have known he’d wake up somewhere that was _not_ his bed?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind that he already started to feel warmer, and looking down his body he actually exclaimed in surprise to find his clothes were no longer his comfortable, baggy grey sweatpants and loose white shirt with a hole in the side where he’d cut out the label and messed up, but a completely new attire comprised of tight fitting yet oddly flexible leather pants and knee-high, tightly laced boots on his lower half, while his torso was fit into what must be several layers, topped by some sort of snug-fitting coat with tails reaching to his mid-thighs and rather loose sleeves that had a tendency to fall back and reveal his forearms, which were covered in ornate dark leather vambraces.

The outfit made no sense to Hyunjin, and the more he looked down his front and tried to catch a look of the entire attire, the less sense it made. He wished he had a mirror to see what he had really gotten into – literally – but that might be expecting a bit much of a random cave… Or not, perhaps, maybe that glittery surface over there where the rocks jutted further into the open space of the cave could be-

Hyunjin strode forward, curiosity overpowering cautiousness for the time being, and really, there, leaned against the rocks, was a large iron-cast mirror. The surface was in no way perfect, mottled here and there with specs of oxidation and overall it could use a good polish, but it was enough for Hyunjin’s needs for the time being.

‘Did I wake up in some sort of medieval play? No, that’s not right… Nineteenth century Europe? No, not really…’ Hyunjin shook his head at the thoughts, studying the embroidery on his clothes. Those designs were decidedly not European. ‘This is ridiculous, all I need now is a sword or something, and-’ His thoughts cut off as he suddenly felt a weight at his hip, and brushing the tails of his coat back, the hilt of a sword came into view.

‘Ok, great, what the hell am I supposed to do with a sword, cut off my-’ He stopped his thoughts right there; if he’d thought about being cold and warmer clothes had appeared, thought of a mirror and one had materialized in the cave with him, thought of a sword and one had fitted itself to his hip, he really needed to keep his thoughts in check before he messed up and lost vital body parts.

Trying to keep his mind clear and not think much, he reached for the hilt of the sword and slowly took it out of it’s scabbard. He would have expected it to feel weird, foreign, awkward, to hold such a long blade, but… it didn’t. The handle fit perfectly in his palm, and with just a few experimental swings, the blade felt more like an extension of his arm than his own hand did. Long, narrow and light, flexible yet surprisingly sturdy, the sword felt like part of his own body, as if he’d never done anything else but wield it on a daily basis his entire life.

For that matter, the clothes he was in, despite him never having worn anything similar before, felt like a second skin, and instead of restricting his movements or hindering him as one would expect from such a foreign attire with unfamiliar cuts, they made him feel strangely free and at more liberty to move in every which way he desired than even his choice pyjamas.

Carefully, and yet with an accuracy that could only come from endless practice, Hyunjin sheathed the sword again and decided to explore the cave he was in. Really, it must be a cave, with the way the walls and ceiling looked, and yet, it looked too neat, too perfect, to be natural. Someone must have carved it into the rock and along with it the ornaments he was finding littering the archways and pillars scattered about, the shelves and nooks etched into the walls and various raised platforms that seemed to serve as tables and benches.

Somewhere in the back of the cave he heard water running and found a small waterfall trickling into a steaming pool, the water just the perfect temperature for a bath. It took him some more exploring before he thought to wonder about where the diffuse light that was making his exploring possible came from, and a closer look around revealed countless tiny crystals in the rocks of the ceiling and walls that seemed to glow with a light of their own. Truthfully, the more he explored, the closer he looked, the more details he could have sworn hadn’t been there the moment before appeared in front of his eyes, revealing the cave that had looked rather crude and bland at first to actually have quite the homely ambience; as far as a cave could have a homely ambience.

Despite the rather large size of the cave, Hyunjin soon found he’d seen whatever there was to see there, though, and decided to explore beyond its confines. The closer he got to where the entrance must be, the colder the air became, and he found even his new, warmer clothes were not enough against the chill. With the first sliver of daylight, something that looked like a cloak hanging from a hook in the wall came into view in the front chamber of the cave.

Approaching it, Hyunjin didn’t bother wondering anymore, as seemingly nothing made sense here, anyway, and instead decided to take the offering against the cold and took the cloak. It felt rather heavy in his hands, the dark blue material cold and almost slippery even though it was clearly fabric, and despite the weight, it seemed rather thin. It would be better than nothing, Hyunjin wagered, shaking it out to find how to wear it, and soon found the other side of the garment; the inside, lined in a silvery, infinitely soft and warm to the touch fabric he had never seen or heard of before in his life. Upon throwing it over his shoulders and fastening the clasps at his collarbone, the cloak settled over and around him like a cloud, wrapping him in warmth and a sense of familiar security he was only used to from his favourite fluffy blanket on the living room couch. Yet here he was…

This prepared to face the cold wafting in through the opening of the cave, Hyunjin finally stepped out into the open. He found himself on a small – very small, maybe barely large enough for him to lie down without his feet dangling over the edge – ledge, hanging around ten meters above the ground underneath on the side of a steep rocky cliffside. And yet, Hyunjin had no eyes for what lay directly beneath, too enraptured by the sight of a vast forest laid out before him, fading into open, gentle green hills in the distance all the way to what must be the ocean glittering under the horizon.

It was a magnificent sight, but once he’d taken it all in, he couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with it. It took him a while, but eventually he got it; there were no traces of human life whatsoever, as far as he could see. No roads, no houses, not even power lines or the trail of a plane in the sky. Just endless and overwhelming untouched wilderness; and for someone born and raised in a city, that was a terrifying prospect. Just how had he gotten here, all on his own, so far away from any trace of civilization? Half-way up a rocky cliff in a cave that looked too artificial to be natural, too?

Turning around and back to the cave entrance, Hyunjin’s heart nearly stopped when he couldn’t see the opening he had just stepped out of moments before.

‘Oh, no, no, no! No! It- It was just there, no way…!’ His thoughts jumbled as he took hasty steps towards the rocky surface, ready to start pounding on the wall like a madman if the situation called for it, but as he tried to, his hands passed right through the wall. His surprised exclamation sounded more like a startled squeak, and he found himself actually quite glad that he was seemingly alone so no one would have heard that.

Carefully, he waded closer to where his hands passed through the rock, and when his face would have smushed against the stone, the surface melted around him like an illusion and he peered into the cave again. He pulled his head back, and was met with the solid-looking surface again, and leaning forward, it once again disappeared to let him see the cave entrance.

‘An illusion, huh…’ he concluded, taking a few steps away from the cave entrance, studying the surface. Taking a pebble off the ground, he threw it at the wall, and to his great surprise, it bounced off. Yet, as he rushed forward once again, the illusion dissolved around him, letting him into the cave without a hitch. It was like the cave only allowed him inside, and nothing else. For the first time since waking up in this strange place, Hyunjin felt comforted, and a small smile tugged at his lips. At least he had this seemingly safe place to come back to…

Reassured, Hyunjin stepped out of the cave once more with renewed confidence, and began to look for a way down from the ledge. He found it close to the rocky wall, a narrow path that was barely visible and seemed to grow out of the cliffside as his feet looked for purchase, allowing him a rather easy descent all things considered. In no time, he was stood at the bottom of the cliff, and looking up, it took him quite a bit to find the ledge his cave was located over. The path he’d just taken was hardly discernible, either, even the start of it right before his eyes, and he decided to mark it with a small stone tower so he could find it later if he had to.

With that done, he turned to face the looming forest, the trees towering over him now that he stood on firm ground at the bottom of the cliff. And yet, the longer he looked, the less threatening the mass of greens and browns appeared, colours shining through invitingly in flowers on bushes and weeds and on wings of butterflies and birds. A gentle concert of chirps and whistles, hums and trills registered to his ears and lured him in.

The amount of wildlife surrounding him was astonishing and terrifying at the same time. Bugs seemed to be everywhere, and he was anxiously awaiting the first one to come too close to him, or even land on his skin. Little creatures hushed out of the way every few steps on the ground, rustling in the grass and foliage, with all he could see of them being a slick tail disappearing, a glimpse of fur between blades of grass, the glint of a pair of eyes before he blinked and they vanished. The further he got into the forest, the more alive it felt, and the glimpses he got of the creatures calling it his home became longer. Here and there he caught a clear look of a pair of colourful wings, the lithe body of a lizard, the face of a squirrel. Every now and then, the call of a bird stood out, it’s shape disappearing in the foliage above after a few beats of it’s wings that Hyunjin could follow from his spot on the ground.

None of the wildlife Hyunjin encountered seemed to be particularly afraid of him, just keeping it’s distance as he approached. And yet, even that changed the deeper he wandered into the forest. He moved more carefully now, making an effort to stay quiet and not disturb the creatures around him, and finally he could observe them.

What he saw, however, made no sense to him for the longest time.

There weren’t butterflies fluttering from flower to flower, but beautiful, tiny creatures he could only call fairies of some nature. What he thought were lizards rushing between the rocks on the ground were tiny, scaly creatures that could unfurl a set of leathery, almost translucent wings on their back and fly up into the air like some sort of miniature dragons, and what he thought was a badger at first, busy clearing out the entrance to an underground burrow, had a set of intricate, curved horns on its forehead; and Hyunjin was by far not an expert, but surely, badgers didn’t have any blue in their fur, either, did they?

All that, however, he could explain away as tricks the unstable light falling through the foliage was playing on him, but that last bit of reassurance was taken from him when he reached a small clearing and came face-to-face with a deer; only the deer had two heads, and instead of antlers, a single, spiraled horn stood proudly high on both of its foreheads. It didn’t run away, either, instead curiously approaching a frozen-in-place Hyunjin.

Instinctively, Hyunjin held out his hand towards the animal, and it eagerly sniffed it with one of it’s heads while the other kept its eyes fixed firmly on Hyunjin’s with a look that was far too intelligent for a regular animal.

“H-hey there…” Hyunjin breathed, just barely above a whisper. “You- You’re a very pretty, uhm… You’re very pretty. You’re-… You’re not going to hurt me, are you? That’s some very pointy looking horns you have there. I’m not going to hurt you, yeah? So, uh, please don’t poke me with those, either, alright?” He rambled quietly, shaking as the deer kept sniffing his hand, but he yelped, retracting his hand quickly and clutching it to his chest when the strange two-headed-unicorn-deer gave his outstretched fingers a firm lick. The animal lifted his head to look at Hyunjin with both sets of eyes, and Hyunjin could have sworn the look it gave him was amused.

Before Hyunjin could gather himself, the deer’s heads turned to look off somewhere to Hyunjin’s right, though, and without warning, it hastily jumped into the bushes to his left, it’s steps and the rustling of leaves quickly disappearing among the sounds of the forest. Shortly after, the cracking of twigs and heavy thumps of larger feet -or hooves, or paws, or claws, or whatever it would end up being- on the ground preceded the arrival of a new being in the tiny clearing.

By then, it was starting to begin to dawn on Hyunjin that something was not right with this place. Most likely, he must have ended up in some sort of dream-world. Which made no sense to him, since he _didn’t_ dream, ever, and most definitely not with this much detail. The colours and shapes were too vivid and clear, the sounds too real in his ears, heavy smells wafted around him with an intensity he could almost taste them, and he felt every single thing he touched, including the branch that had snapped into his face and the rock that had dug painfully into his hand when he’d slipped and fallen over a raised root and cut the edge of his palm. Nothing else made sense, though, unless it was a dream he was in. Nowhere else could he imagine two-headed-unicorn-deer to be real, or gigantic wolves that towered over him to not bite him in half at first sight.

Which- Yeah, that thought brought him back to reality quite quickly, and he let out a startled – albeit belated – yell, stumbling back to the edge of the clearing. Behind him, a rushing sound rang out and a cloud of glittery-… _something_ rushed out, swarming around the head of the wolf. Angry chirping and trilling accompanied the cloud, and after a few moments, Hyunjin realized the cloud was in fact not a cloud, but a myriad of the tiny, butterfly-fairy-like beings he had seen all over the forest. Among the chirping and trilling, a very clear message was conveyed over and over again, too: “Leave him alone!”, a myriad of tiny voices seemed to say.

The wolf growled, shaking its head and swatting at the fairies with its paws, snapping its jaws at them, too. It never landed a hit, though, and its growls seemed to become more annoyed as it was forced away from Hyunjin. And again, Hyunjin had a feeling he could understand the meaning of the growls: “Do I not have the right to see what’s come into our forest for myself?!”

Hyunjin didn’t wait for the fairies and the wolf to finish that argument, turning around and darting off between the bushes, taking roughly the same path the deer must have taken before. As soon as the foliage closed behind him, he broke into a sprint and didn’t stop running, dodging trees and bushes, jumping over roots and rocks, leaping over or ducking under fallen trunks and taking sharp turns left and right around larger obstacles until he broke out of the tree-line and found himself at the edge of a clear pond; or maybe it counted as a lake, even, given its size.

He was panting from exertion, but strangely, not as much as he expected he would be after that run. He was by no means a stranger to physical exercise, no, not considering that he was studying on a sports scholarship, top of the swim-team at his university and working hard to finish his degree to hopefully find work as a sport’s physiotherapist. He knew his body quite well, knew his limits and abilities, and as he thought about it, none of what he’d just done should have been possible. He shouldn’t have been able to take most of those leaps, nor been able to run for that long, that fast, in that environment. It didn’t make sense. And yet, here he was, after having done all that, and he had barely broken a sweat, his breathing already calming down.

His breathing failed him altogether when he looked up to take in the lake he’d arrived at, though, just to be met with five very human-looking faces, on very human-looking heads and necks, over very human-looking torsos – at least from what he could see of them through the surface of the clear water – looking up at him with interest. With a startled squeal, he flailed as he scrambled back and slipped on the humid grass, landing heavily on his backside. The faces rushed closer, some raising further out of the water with their expressions furrowed in concern.

“Oh no, are you alright?” A voice reached him, clearly worried, and yet he had no idea how he understood the words, because they were clearly not uttered in any language known to him.

“I-I’m fine, fine, just fine! N-no need to, uh, yeah, don’t- feel free to stay there, I’m ok, I’m good, all good, thank you!” He stammered incoherently.

One of the beings in the water - for however human they looked, given their radiantly shimmering hair in blues and greens and what strangely looked like fins running down their sides and the outside of their upper arms, Hyunjin was sure they weren’t actually all that human – giggled, amused, and the others looked as if they were only refraining from doing so out of politeness.

“We’re sorry for startling you. It was never our intention, and we wouldn’t want for you to get hurt.” One of the older looking ones spoke with a sincere tone, though, and Hyunjin could only nod dumbly as he scrambled to his feet.

“Oh, uh… Thanks, I guess. I- don’t mean you any harm, or whatever, either. I’ll just- Uh- go?” He stuttered, and the one who’d spoken first, the one who’d risen most out of the water, tilted its head curiously.

“Didn’t you come to drink? You looked out of breath just now. You should refresh yourself.” And with that, they held up what looked like a conch, filled with water. “Don’t worry, the water is clean and good.” They offered, looking very serious, and Hyunjin wondered for a moment what would happen if he rejected the offer. Would they be upset? Offended? Would they change attitudes and try to drown him? Would they try to drown him if he came closer either way?

In the end, he did get closer and took the conch from the being’s hand, tasting the water. It was clear and cool, and indeed very refreshing; invigorating, even. He emptied the conch, savoring it’s contents, and handed it back to the water-dwelling being. They must be a nymph of some sort. Not quite a mermaid, for this was freshwater. Maybe a naiad? Maybe something else…

They seemed content with him for accepting the offer of a drink, though, one by one slinking back deeper into the water with what looked like very respectful inclines of their heads, until Hyunjin was left alone on the shore again. He looked around for a short while, then decided to continue walking, continue exploring.

He wandered aimlessly along the shore, finding more unusual beings as he went. He found fish that walked in and out of the water, coming on land as if they belonged there. He saw large birds with bodies that decidedly didn’t look like a bird’s, some resembling those of horses, others’ lions, and one being in the far distance he believed could have been a dragon. He found a sunbathing snake that dissolved into sparks and materialized into a snake again a little further up on the rocks it was laying on, and a group of stones he approached with the intent to sit down for a while got up and walked off as he drew near.

Deciding to take the hint that he wasn’t meant to sit down, he went to see if he could find something to eat instead. He found some fruit, but none of it looked like anything he was used to, and he didn’t dare try it. He wandered aimlessly between bushes and trees, passing by any and all of the unfamiliar fruit, with his stomach starting to growl with hunger from how appetizing it all looked, anyway.

“You can eat whatever you want, you know? It’s all good fruit…” A wispy voice sounded quietly behind him, and he turned around in a flash, sword suddenly unsheathed and in his hand. In front of him, he found a being that was as wispy as its voice, translucent, not even corporeal, by the looks of it, vague outlines only brought together by a flurry of lazily swirling petals. Despite there barely being any indication of eyes visible, Hyunjin could tell it was looking at his sword with amusement. He didn’t need to interpret the being’s gaze, though, to know his sword would be utterly useless against a being made out of petals and air. “None of the fruit in this forest is poisonous…” It reassured again, and Hyunjin finally lowered his sword, sheathing it again.

“W-what- who are you?” He asked, only realizing the potential rudeness of his questions once the words were out of his mouth. The being chuckled, though.

“I am the cherry tree over there…” It indicated the direction of a tree with it’s flimsy arm of petals, some of them flying off and circling the tree as if carried by an invisible breeze. “My cherries are sweet and juicy, you can try them for yourself!”

The thought of eating that being’s – that tree’s, or tree spirit’s, or whatever it was – body parts in the form of cherries made Hyunjin’s stomach churn with discomfort, though.

“M-maybe another time. I’m not feeling in the mood for cherries right now.” He tried to excuse himself, hoping he wasn’t being rude and offensive again. The being only inclined its head respectfully, though.

“Of course. There is plenty of other fruit in this forest, you’ll surely find some that is more to your liking. Maybe one day…”

Hyunjin nodded hesitantly. “Y-yeah, maybe one day.”

Without wanting to seem rude, he bid the tree-spirit farewell and hurried in another direction. He still didn’t know where he was going, and still didn’t know if he should care, but the hunger eventually became nagging. When he found a clearing surrounded by bushes somewhere deeper in the forest, he couldn’t miss how the berries looked just like raspberries. They smelled like raspberries, too, and he eventually tried one. They tasted like raspberries as well, so he concluded they must be raspberries, in the end, and stared eating more. He went around the clearing as he picked and ate berry after berry, until he felt full. It had been a fairly satisfying snack, considering that they were just berries, and technically…

Yeah, Hyunjin still didn’t know if this was real. He’d tasted the raspberries, he felt full after eating them, and everything else around him felt real, too. But was it? A world where all these fantastic beings lived, where naiads and tree spirits talked to him and offered him water and fruit? He couldn’t tell, didn’t know what to think of it, and the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to.

Slower than before, he strolled further through the forest, secretly hoping he’d find the way back to the cliff and thereby cave he’d started out at as he went, observing the world around him. All of this, everything he saw and heard and felt, felt real. But in reality… When he jumped, as hard as he could… It wouldn’t be possible for him to land in the top branches of a tree if he did that. Nor did he really know how to land on the branch of a tree in the first place, but here, he just did it. When he hopped down from said branch, he should at the very least twist an ankle or break a foot, yet here… He instinctively rolled his weight off upon landing and rose unharmed. He could run faster than ever before, and if he put his weight into it, a whole fallen tree three times as thick as his own shoulders were wide was not too heavy for him to lift out of the way. In what way could all this be real? Not to mention, he actually knew how to wield a sword, which in and of itself should have been an impossible feat for him in all realities including this one, given his lack of coordination of his limbs whenever he didn’t happen to be in the water.

Despite his leisurely pace, eventually, the trees began to thin out in front of Hyunjin and he could see flashes of a wall of rocks on the other side. Steering towards it, he did end up coming out at the foot of a cliff eventually. He wasn’t sure it was the same cliff he had started out at, yet he decided to wander along it. Maye he would find more answers to his questions in the cave, if he could find it again.

It took a moment, but eventually, he spotted the small tower of rocks he’d made earlier, and near it the beginning of the path up the cliffside. It was as easy to climb up as it was down, what looked impossible to scale at first became a wide enough path under his feet, and in no time he reached the ledge. Now, if only the cave would open for him behind the illusion of the rock-wall…

He reached his hand out, but just as his fingers were about to touch stone – or pass right through it – an obnoxiously loud and strident noise blared out, causing Hyunjin to jump and stumble, coming dangerously close to the edge of the rocky ledge. He covered his ears in an attempt to block the noise, but it did nothing to help. The noise was incessant and loud, and to Hyunjin’s dismay, he felt his vision blurring, the world around him disappearing as his vision eventually faded to black and he lost his senses.

Just for a few seconds, though, and then his eyes opened again. Not to rocks and trees and a vast blue sky, but a small, dimly lit room with light teal woodchip wallpaper and a blaring phone on his bedside table. Gone was the sword on his hip, the warm cloak and perfectly fitted boots, pants and coat, once again replaced by grey sweatpants and a shirt with a hole in the side where a label had been cut out wrong.

With movements that seemed at least as practiced as the wielding of his sword, Hyunjin turned off the blaring alarm and flopped back into his pillows.

A dream. It had all just been a dream. A wonderful, really weird and at the same time amazing dream. A dream filled with fairies and winged lizards, horned badgers and two-headed-unicorn-deer, gigantic wolves, naiads and tree-spirits, all kinds of winged beasts, strange fruit and… raspberries. It had felt so real! So real, Hyunjin could swear he could still taste the raspberries on his tongue. In fact, he could- He could even find tiny raspberry seeds in his teeth?! Now, come on, that was just silly!

With a heavy sigh, Hyunjin rolled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Time to forget about his strange dream and get ready for his 8:30am lecture. May whoever had invented that one roast in hell!

***

“I thought you don’t dream?!” Jeongin mumbled incredulously around a full mouth of food. Hyunjin scrunched up his face and clasped his hand over his best friend’s mouth, blocking the sight with a disgusted expression.

“I don’t. I didn’t. Until last night.”

Jeongin swallowed his bite, nearly getting out of his seat as he leaned closer to Hyunjin with a wide grin.

“Was it because of me? Did my call make you so happy that you finally had your first dream? Did you dream of me?!” The younger asked excitedly, but Hyunjin barely noticed it as he shook his head.

“No. I didn’t dream of anything that was even close to what I know from the real world. Except- Except for raspberries.”

“Raspberries? Why raspberries? I thought your favourite berries were strawberries, why would you dream of raspberries?” Jeongin stared at him with wide, confused eyes.

“I don’t know! I don’t know why I dreamt at all, all of a sudden. And why I remember everything with so much detail. Like…” Hyunjin trailed off for a moment, and then began to recount his entire dream to Jeongin.

“It was so strange.” He finished in the end. “I even felt full and sated when I woke up, as if I’d really eaten that many berries. And needed to pee so bad, but I didn’t drink anything long before going to bed to avoid precisely that, like always. Also…” He reached his hand out, showing Jeongin the cut at the edge of his palm. “This definitely wasn’t there when I went to bed last night. And this morning I wake up, and-… I mean, I fell in the dream and cut my hand right here. And wake up and my hand is cut in the exact same spot?”

Jeongin had listened closely the entire time, humming thoughtfully at what Hyunjin was presenting him with.

“Maybe… Maybe you were sleepwalking, and your brain made up you falling in your dream to explain something that happened while you were sleepwalking? And it was while sleepwalking that you went and got something to drink in the middle of the night, too? Wait, have you checked our kitchen, were there any glasses out, any knives or other things you could have cut yourself on?”

Hyunjin huffed quietly. “You know what our kitchen looked like when you left yesterday. I didn’t do the dishes, that’s your task this week.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes, but got back on track quickly. “Well, you see, it’s not impossible that you just sleepwalked to the kitchen at some point…”

“Well, of course it has to be something like that, I’m not saying the things from my dream happened in reality, that’s just absurd!” Hyunjin scoffed. “But the fact that I dreamt, and it all somehow matches what must have happened in reality, and that I remember everything from my dream, that is so weird to me…”

Jeongin hummed, shoveling some more food into his mouth. “Yeah… That’s really something…”

Hyunjin once again clasped his hand over Jeongin’s mouth. “Please. Finish chewing before you speak.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes and swallowed. “I’m just saying… I leave for one night and all kinds of weird shit happens. You dream, you sleepwalk, you get hurt… Good thing it was just one night! I’m keeping an eye on you from now on!”

Hyunjin laughed humorlessly, shaking his head in disbelief as he shoved at his best friend and roommate. “Right. You, who sleeps at ten and doesn’t wake for anything before your alarm rings in the morning. I’m screwed…”

***

Despite his excitement and wonder about the novel experience of dreaming, and remembering the dream in all its details, by the time night came Hyunjin had mostly forgotten about it over the celebration of his birthday. He fell asleep easily, exhausted after the exciting day. When his eyes opened seemingly just moments after he had closed them, seeing the same view of a cave-like structure he had first seen the night before, it all came rushing back at once, though. Hastily, he sat up, scrambling to his feet right after.

One look across the room to where the iron-cast mirror leaned showed him that he was back in the same attire as the day before, sword hanging by his side. Getting closer to the entrance, he once again found the cloak, draping it over his shoulders as he stepped out onto the stone ledge. The same scenery as before greeted him, only a few clouds drifting across the sky now and a sharper breeze blowing over the land.

Without much further ado, Hyunjin hurried down the path hidden in the cliffside to the bottom, and once again set out to explore the forest; this time, aware that it was just a dream, he was bolder. And still, he wasn’t any less full of wonder as he discovered new things he hadn’t seen the day before, new beings, new fruit, new plants and places.

He ended up at a stream, eventually, following it leisurely for a while, until he heard voices. A group of children were playing in the water, chattering excitedly among themselves. As he drew nearer, though, he realized their excited chatter sounded actually quite stressed, and they seemed to be struggling with something.

Inevitably, one of the children eventually spotted Hyunjin and alerted their companions of his presence. The entire group turned to look at Hyunjin, and after sharing a few looks between them, one of them stepped out of the group and towards Hyunjin.

“Sir, could you maybe help us?” The child chirped in a language Hyunjin shouldn’t be able to understand.

“What with?” He answered, though, in the same language.

“We want to place that boulder further in the middle of the stream to play on it!”

Hyunjin rose an eyebrow, contemplating the boulder the other children were surrounding, and then the group in itself. Actually, he noticed as he watched them, they weren’t really children. They were all young adults, at the least, only they weren’t human. If he looked closely, he noticed their forms were fluid, melting and becoming one with the water where their bodies would have submerged.

“If I help you, will you tell me what kind of beings you are?” He asked carefully, mindful of not offending the little creatures.

“We’re river spirits!” The one that had come to ask for his help offered readily. “We live in and protect this river, as it protects us.”

Hyunjin nodded slowly to himself, then decided to take off his cloak and step into the water to uphold his part of the bargain. Still with a strength he shouldn’t possess, much as the day before, he pushed the boulder further into the middle of the river, into the spot the river spirits indicated him. The group of spirits cheered, and Hyunjin smiled at their display of happiness, making his way back to the shore. He shivered as a gust of wind hit him, freezing him in his soaked clothes. If only they would dry quickly!

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind that he could feel his clothes drying on his body. Even his boots, moments before filled to the brim with water, dried out quickly, leaving him standing in a cloud of steam. Once the steam dissipated, he could feel a small tug at the tails of his coat, and he turned to find one of the spirits look up at him.

“Thank you, Sir. We really appreciate your help, and would like to thank you with a gift. This is a blessed canteen that will never run out of water, no matter how much you drink of it.” The spirit held up a rather small canteen, offering it to Hyunjin. “We hope it will aid you and come in handy in your endeavors. Should we ever be able to lend our help, just ask the river and we will come to you.” The spirit added with a sincere smile, and looking up at the rest of the group, Hyunjin found it mirrored there.

“Thank you. This is very kind of you…” Hyunjin was genuinely touched by the gesture from the little spirits. “And likewise, if I can ever help you guys, let me know.” The spirits sighed happily, bowing respectfully before sinking further into the water again. Hyunjin chuckled quietly to himself, waving in farewell as he clasped the cloak at his collarbones and went on his way.

He still had no destination in mind, but after a while, he began to notice a change in his surroundings. Namely, in the beings surrounding him. Rather than scurrying away, they stopped or even came closer as he passed. A few more daring ones, mainly the butterfly fairies, even flew loops around him, and a squirrel-like creature with two long, flowy adornments on its head that reminded Hyunjin of feathers from a paradise-bird, came close to scaling his legs before changing its mind.

He reached a clearing in a shallow valley eventually. Protected from the cool winds blowing around him by the gentle hills to each side it was fairly warm in the sun, and he decided to rest there for a bit. Without much thought, he laid down in the soft grass, finding it surprisingly comfortable.

He could have dozed off right there, basking in the sun with the sound of rustling trees in the distance, if there hadn’t been a different rustling that slowly became louder, sounding closer and closer, until he eventually remembered some of the less-friendly looking creatures from the day before and jumped up with a start, unsheathing his sword as he searched around for potential threats. He was only met with the sight of a group of two-headed-unicorn-deer he had obviously just interrupted while grazing and who were staring at him with wide eyes now. With a relieved sigh, he lowered his sword and sheathed it again.

“I’m sorry… My bad, I was startled…” He apologized quietly, and one of the deer broke out of the group, approaching him slowly.

“You are very easily spooked… Though there is nothing in these forests you have to fear, Sir.” A voice reached him, and it took him a moment to realize it was the deer talking to him.

“You- you talk?” He blurted out, unintelligently. The deer gave him an amused look, and this time he could definitely tell that the one the day before had also, definitely, looked amused at him.

“So do you. Why shouldn’t we?”

That was some pretty solid logic Hyunjin couldn’t contest in that moment.

“All of the beings in this forest can talk. The question is, can you listen?” The deer continued, and Hyunjin felt called out even though he had done nothing wrong. It didn’t last long, though, as the deer spoke up again.

“You haven’t been here for long, but you have already made friends… We’d be honored if we could consider you a friend, too.” This time, Hyunjin was sure it was-… well, to put it bluntly, the deer’s _other_ _head_ that had spoken.

“I- Uh… Sure?” Hyunjin stammered. It was probably better to be friends with these rather large deer with the pointy and dangerous looking horns on their heads than at odds. His stammered response seemed to please the deer plenty enough, though, and the rest of the group stepped closer. He was mesmerized as he took in the different animals, all exceedingly majestic, until the deer looked up at once, staring in one single direction into the forest.

“The wolves follow us and we would rather not cross them, but you, Sir, have nothing to fear from them. We shall take our leave so as not to come between you and them, however.” The leading deer spoke hastily, and with a respectful bow of their heads, the entire group of deer sprang off into the underbrush on the opposite side of the clearing.

True to the deer’s words, moments later, a wolf stepped out of the underbrush they had suspected before running off. Hyunjin’s hand flew to his sword, but he didn’t draw just yet, fixing the wolf instead. It was a huge beast, its head surely towering a good half meter over Hyunjin’s own, if Hyunjin were to let it come close enough; which he didn’t plan to, and to pass that message on, he started drawing his sword just slightly, just as a warning. The wolf heeded it, stopping in its tracks and sitting on its haunches.

“I mean you no harm, Sir. Just like yesterday, I merely come to meet you for myself.” The words sounded through the wolf’s growl.

Just like the day before, though, Hyunjin could also hear a flurry of chirping and trilling grow louder and closer; and upon turning his head, he saw what must be thousands of butterfly fairies hover in the air around him. The wolf wore a look of derision and disgust as it looked at them, but that look became neutral once again as its gaze returned to Hyunjin.

“I offer you my respect, and will be on my way now that I’ve made your acquaintance.” It stated, bowing its head and trotting off after the deer.

Hyunjin exhaled a breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding once the wolf disappeared.

“What was that all about?” He asked no one in particular. It seemed that was an invitation for the fairies to draw closer, though.

“The wolves are powerful and deadly, but not treacherous. If they respect you, you have nothing to fear from them.” A myriad of voices seemed to explain at once. Somehow, Hyunjin got the gist of it.

“That’s reassuring. And what about you?” He asked the fluttering and glittering cloud surrounding him, and immediately the volume of chirping and trilling increased in volume. No single words were discernible, but the feeling of reassurance was tangible. The volume kept rising though, becoming louder and louder, along with the sentiment of needing to leave. Before Hyunjin could make sense of it, however, his vision swam before turning black, and he passed out.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in his room.

***

“Maybe the creatures showing you so much respect in your dreams stems from your desire to be accepted and respected in your daily life?” Jeongin mused after Hyunjin told him all about his dream from the previous night.

“It’s not just respect, though, it’s as if they worship me, almost. I don’t want to be worshipped! Not here and not in my dreams. I just want… people to see me for myself, you know?” Hyunjin exasperated, and Jeongin hummed in understanding.

“I do know.”

And they both knew he did. No one understood like Jeongin how Hyunjin wanted nothing more than to be acknowledged for more than his looks and success on the swim team. He wanted to be acknowledged for his wits, his academic successes, his dreams and aspirations that he was working hard for, his personality.

“Maybe your dreams are trying to balance out the lack of respect you get here with too much respect there.” Was the psychology student’s next theory, and Hyunjin hummed in displeasure.

“Well, that will just leave me unsatisfied in both realities.”

Jeongin sighed. “Well... They are your dreams, are they not? You decide what happens, don’t you? Then teach your dream deer and spirits to tone it down a notch. You might have more success with those than with your fan-club here!” He nodded towards the gathered group near the entrance to the sports complex, and Hyunjin groaned. Jeongin did have a good point there, he’d give him that.

***

For the next six months, Hyunjin’s nights passed like that. From someone who didn’t dream at all at night, never, for his entire life, he became someone who dreamt of the same world every single night in such detail that it sometimes surpassed even the reality he lived in.

He explored the forest in his dreams, until he knew every single tree in it, every bush and rock, and along with them, every creature that called it home. He helped those in need, played with those that came to play, kept company to those who came for company. He was carefree in his exploring and honest in his interactions.

Some days, he was too exhausted even in his dreams to do much and stayed in the cave. His imagination helped him decorate the place: he added a comfortable nest of blankets and furs in the middle of the main part he tended to wake up in, scattered books about the shelves on the walls, displayed pretty flowers, vines, and rocks he found as he explored the vast forest or that the creatures gifted him. Bowls of fruit and tasty roots that never rotted piled on the table from when the residents he helped showed their gratitude, or just because. He could probably stay days in his cave without going out, having everything he needed there with him.

He would feel uneasy if he did that, though, feeling the call of the forest and all the creatures there most days. He didn’t loathe it, either. He genuinely enjoyed the company of whatever creatures crossed his path, learning from every single one of them. He learned about them, their relationships with each other and the forest, the entire world they were in, as well as himself. It were the fairies that showed him his true magic potential, the deer that taught him just how fast he could run and how far he could jump, the tree spirits how apt he was with the sword, and the river spirits the extent of his strength. It was a constant give and take, and he was happier than ever before, looking forward to each night of sleep and starting every day rejuvenated through the magic of his dream-world.

Rainy days in his dream world were perfect to stay in the cave, though, maybe soak in the hot spring in the back, snuggle into the nest of furs and blankets, or play with his magic as he decorated the place some more.

One day sometime in mid-September, a thunderstorm was going down over the forest as he woke up in the dream-world, and the prospect of going out was really, thoroughly unpleasant. It was the perfect time to redecorate the cave, Hyunjin decided. He’d gotten a lovely collection of Fall leaves, seeds and nuts from the beavers for his help with their dam the day before, and he could use them to decorate the cave in the theme of the season.

Humming a cheerful tone, Hyunjin shifted furniture and old decorations, took down some items that had lost their cheer and replaced them with new ones, puttering happily from one end of the cave to the other and into all the smaller chambers, rooms and nooks. There wasn’t a corner he didn’t peek into, clearing out dust and filling them with joy, not a single thing left unturned and righted up. It took him at least half of the day – night, dream, whatever he should call his daily visits to the dream world – to finish, but he was thoroughly satisfied in the end and looking forward to spending the rest of his time until he had to wake up in the morning cuddled up in his nest with a book.

Only…

When he returned to the main chamber of the cave, the chamber with the comfortable nest… It was already occupied! Someone was lying there, sprawled out across Hyunjin’s neat pillows and blankets and furs, as if they belonged to him.

“Hey!” Hyunjin’s indignant yell rang through the cave as he drew his sword. “You! Who do you think you are, lying in my bed?!”

The person stirred, sitting up and blinking up at Hyunjin blearily, as if he’d just woken up from a nap. Which was bullshit; Hyunjin had left the main cave not two minutes ago before returning, no one would have had the time to come in and get comfortable for a nap to rise from in such a short time-frame. The bad acting infuriated Hyunjin even more than the invasion of his home did, and he closed the distance to the stranger quickly, sword surging forward to rest against the invader’s throat.

“Who are you, how did you get here, and who gave you the right to lie in _my_ bed?!” He hissed as he leaned forward over the hilt of his sword, using the tip to tilt the stranger’s chin up.

Despite the precarious situation the stranger was in, he didn’t seem to fear Hyunjin, his eyes narrowing to slits as he glared right back.

“Name’s none of your business, and how I got here I’d like to know, too. Not like you are giving me any chance to find out, now are you?”

Clearly affronted, Hyunjin’s sword pressed closer to the stranger’s throat, but instead of it intimidating the other, he suddenly jerked back and knocked the sword back with enough force it almost hit Hyunjin in the face. When Hyunjin caught his bearings, he found himself facing the other standing on the opposite side of the bed, his attire now similar to his own and holding two short, curved daggers that he clearly knew how to wield.

He faced Hyunjin with a cocky smile, head tilted and eyebrow raised haughtily. “Now, who are you to say this is _your_ bed, when _I_ just woke up in it?”


	2. Dreamscapers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is for [thequietrecluse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequietrecluse/pseuds/thequietrecluse) <3

Jisung’s heart was beating out of his chest as he fell into a battle stance, holding the two daggers that had somehow appeared out of thin air and allowed him to knock back the sword that had been pressing against his throat moments before.

The successful evasion move gave him confidence, making him feel cocky, and before he knew it his quick tongue retaliated against the rude stranger who’d attacked him as soon as he’d woken up. “Now, who are you to say this is  _ your  _ bed, when  _ I _ just woke up in it?”

Slowly, the stranger started circling the comfortable mound of pillows and blankets, and Jisung moved in the opposite direction, intent on keeping the bed-like structure between him and his attacker.

“I am the owner of this house! Just because you invaded it it doesn’t mean it’s suddenly yours!” He growled, but Jisung only scoffed derisively. 

“House? This… this isn’t even a house. What is it, a cave?”

The stranger lunged suddenly, jumping over the bed with one stride and slashing at Jisung with his sword as he yelled: “Yeah, and it’s  _ mine! Get out!” _

Jisung saw the trajectory of the sword as if in slow motion and dodged, jumping back to put a table between himself and the guy instead. He was quickly getting tired of this game.

“Gladly!” he answered the guy’s demand, more than happy to get out of here. As he made a move to where he thought the entrance must be, he got cut off by another slash of the sword, though. 

“Not like that!” His attacker sneered. “This is my forest, I don’t want you in it! I don’t want you anywhere on my lands! Leave the way you came!”

Jisung was getting really _ , really _ tired of this shit.

“Dude, if I knew how I ended up here I would gladly leave your annoying ass! I don’t even fucking know where the hell I am, how am I supposed to find out how to get out of here - even more so when you keep hacking at me?!”

“You’re lying!” The stranger griped, slashing at Jisung again, and Jisung had enough. He dodged the blow, caught it with one of his daggers and knocked the sword back. It twisted in the stranger’s hands, falling out of his hold, and knocked against his shoulder. Jisung had no doubt the blade was sharp, and it should have at least cut the fabric of the stranger’s cloak; but it didn’t. Weird.

The stranger caught his sword before it could clatter to the floor, swinging again. Jisung hadn’t expected the comeback to be so fast, and he was slow in his dodge. The sword’s tip headed straight for his arm, and he felt heat bloom across his skin. And yet, the blade didn’t pierce even the outer layer of his clothes. He watched again in slow motion, the tip of the blade almost grazing him with barely a millimeter of space between his clothes and the blade.

It didn’t make sense; by all laws of physics, based on time, motion, trajectory, everything, the blade should have cut him.

Jisung wasn’t one to dwell on a gift of fate for long, though, and jumped out of reach of the sword quickly.

“What the fuck…” His attacker mumbled, looking between him and the sword, likely having caught the unusual occurrence, too.

Jisung took the moment of distraction and closed the distance between him and the other guy, diving under the reach of the blade and fully intent on stabbing him somewhere that wouldn’t kill him, but incapacitate him. There was nothing hindering him, he was too fast for the other to react, and by all means, his dagger should have found it’s target; just as it would have, though, the same warm sensation he’d felt on his arm when the sword was about to cut him erupted on his wrist and his hand twisted of its own accord, folding the dagger back so it passed by the guy’s waist without causing harm.

Startled, Jisung caught his footing again, twirling around to not leave his enemy out of sight. The guy was staring at him slack-jawed.

“Hey! Would you watch it?! You nearly stabbed me!”

“That was my full intention. Sorry I failed!” Jisung growled, attacking again.

His opponent jumped back, out of his reach.

“Dude, careful! Those daggers are sharp!”

Jisung huffed.

“No shit? So’s that sword of yours, but I don’t see you worrying about whether that’s going to hurt me when you slash at me. Consider it common courtesy that I return the favour!”

The guy dodged another cut that should have hit him, warmth exploding across Jisung’s hand again as his dagger twisted out of the way. The guy’s jump had him collide with a table, though, and he hit his non-sword-wielding hand on a corner.

“Agh!” he grimaced, cradling his hand to his chest as pain obviously exploded through it.

Jisung frowned, observing the guy.  _ That _ had hurt him? But his stabs and cuts failed to land? How was that-…

He didn’t get to finish his thought as the guy attacked again, and Jisung was once again too slow. The sword should have run him through, but it didn’t. In the last possible moment, the blade moved with a mind of its own, instead narrowly passing through the gap between his arm and torso.

His attacker looked just as startled as he was, nearly colliding with Jisung if Jisung hadn’t finally jumped out of the way. Coincidentally, he jumped straight into a pillar behind him, and pain exploded through the back of his skull, back and hips.

“Son of a-” Jisung cursed, finally knocking the sword away from himself, too, as he tried to catch his breath. It flew out of his attacker’s hand and in a wide arch through the room before clattering to the floor.

With a startled yell, Jisung’s opponent dove after his weapon, and Jisung took the opening to hurl one of his daggers at his back. It flew in a straight line, right towards the guy’s shoulder, where it should have landed. And yet, it didn’t. Millimeters before piercing the layers of clothing covering the other, the blade turned sideways and flew past him inoffensively.

Jisung cursed again, but finally, he thought he understood. Their weapons couldn’t hurt them, but the room around them could!

In a bid to test his theory, he attacked again. The guy retrieved his sword and moved to defend himself, but Jisung was  _ fast _ . He didn’t aim to hit his opponent, just to drive him into the defensive and maneuver him backwards, somewhere… Towards one of the pillows that had fallen out of the bed, for example.

It worked: the guy stumbled over the pillow, falling hard on his ass, and groaned in pain.

“Hah!” Jisung shouted triumphantly, just as the other seemed to understand what was going on, too, and kicked at his leg. Instinctively, Jisung jumped back, but hit his head on a shelf. A very solid shelf, one that would definitely leave a bump on his head once his ears stopped ringing.

“You’re done for!” The stranger growled, moving to punch Jisung now that he’d learned his weapon was useless, and Jisung ducked, not wanting to find out if their bodies could harm each other in a self-sacrificial study. The oncoming fist went past his head, slamming into the wall, and the stranger yelped in pain. Jisung huffed, kicking at his legs from his crouched position, but the other jumped out of the way. Jisung’s foot arched into nothing, until it hit the corner of the wall and he howled in pain, too.

Anger consumed Jisung, and he felt every nerve-end in his being stand on end. Unconsciously almost, he conjured some sort of force to hurl at his attacker, knowing it should hit him, it should knock him back at least, there was no way he could evade it-

And yet, it didn’t hit the other. His clothes and hair were ruffled as if by a strong wind, but he wasn’t otherwise fazed. The same couldn’t be said for the items that had been laying on the table near him, which were thrown through the entire cave.

“Hey! Can you at least fucking leave my shit alone, you bastard?” The guy yelled as he took in the sudden chaos.

Jisung got up, equally as angry as the other.

“Sorry, my bad; that was originally aimed entirely at you!” He growled, at the same time as dread pooled in his stomach when he noticed the other prepare to retaliate his force-stroke in what he could only assume was the same manner. There was no way he could dodge the attack, and yet-

He felt a warm wind pass him by, just as the things on the shelves on the wall behind him rattled and some fell. The other guy’s eyes widened in surprise.

“How-?!”

Jisung had no idea how, and he had no desire to explain, either. The only thing in his mind was to defeat the guy somehow and get the hell out of this weird place.

***

When Jisung woke up, he felt like death.

That must have been the weirdest dream he had ever had in his life; not to mention that he normally never dreamt in the first place, but he was sure that even if he did, he was not supposed to wake up from a dream feeling as if everything that had happened there had happened in reality. And yet…

Jisung’s entire body hurt. He could have sworn his back had collided with a wall at some point, and his wrist felt sprained. His toes hurt and he had a migraine; maybe even a concussion?

He couldn’t afford a concussion right now, he had to be at work in-

With a yell, he jumped out of bed, throwing on the first set of clothes he could get a hold of from his dresser. He was already running late!

Twenty minutes later saw him sitting in the back of a car, head rolling against the window every few minutes just to jolt back awake when his skin made contact with the cold glass.

“Partied hard into your big day, did you, huh?” His boss chuckled next to him, startling him back awake once again.

“W-what? No!” Jisung defended himself quickly. “I finished clearing up the notes for the meeting this morning and went right to sleep. It was only just past midnight; I shouldn’t be this tired…”

His boss hummed, leaning over the center console to ruffle Jisung’s hair affectionately. Jisung leaned into the touch, living for the affection. In many ways, Younghyun was more like an older brother to him than his boss.

“I was just joking. I know you’re more responsible than that. And I’m sorry I’m making you work on your birthday…”

Jisung shrugged.

“It’s ok, hyung. I know better than anyone that this deal is important!”

Younghyun smiled, sighing fondly.

“It really is… Ah, just what would I do without you, Jisungie~?”

Probably hire a more competent assistant, Jisung thought. Really, it was a miracle Younghyun hadn’t fired him yet. Who hired a secretary that hated making phone calls? Who needed a personal assistant that disliked dealing with people? How had he ever landed a job that required top-level efficiency when he naturally disliked work in any shape and form?

On the other hand, he had to concede that he was quite efficient, since he made sure to get everything he worked on right the first time, so there wouldn’t be follow-up calls or the need to do the same work twice…

Younghyun nudging him pulled Jisung back out of his thoughts.

“I know you’re overthinking; stop that. I could never fire you with that cute face of yours. You know I love you too much for that!”

Jisung exhaled slowly, a trickle of relief spreading through him. With Younghyun being pretty much his only constant contact for most of every single day, he had also become kind of his friend and confidant, and more often than not a shoulder to lean on. Of course, he knew of his insecurities and doubts and just how to shut them up.

“Tell you what, give me the notes to go over and try to nap for a bit. I’ll wake you when we’re there.” Younghyun suggested, and Jisung hurried to comply, snuggling into the comfortable seat as soon as Younghyun was holding the notes. Of course, Jisung was aware that it should be the other way around, that he should be the one looking after every single one of his boss’ needs, and not like this. But that was not the way Kang Younghyun worked. Seriously, bless that man.

The day was endless, and by the time Jisung and Younghyun stumbled out of the company building everyone else had already gone home; including the driver.

“You know what, I’ll drive you home.” Younghyun declared, looking between his watch and Jisung, who stood laden with a tower of paperwork in his arms.

“Hm? What- Oh, no, you don’t need to-!” Jisung quickly tried to refuse, but Younghyun would have none of it. Moments later, Jisung was seated in the passenger seat of Younghyun’s personal car.

“What happened that you slept so badly last night?” Younghyun asked eventually as they pulled into the nightly streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Jisung let out a deep sigh.

“Nightmare, you could say? I had a really weird dream that I was fighting some kind of guy with a nasty attitude. We were fighting with swords and daggers and magic and stuff, but we could never hit each other. But the house or cave or whatever we were in could, so we kind of just tried to make each other bump into furniture and stuff. It was really silly and annoying. But when I woke up this morning I felt as if I’d gotten beaten up during the night for real. I swear there’s even a bump on my head where I dreamt I hit a shelf! Must have rolled against my bedside table or something…”

Younghyun raised an eyebrow in interest as he glanced over at Jisung with a curious look.

“That sounds… intense. Interesting. But I thought you’d told me you don’t dream?”

Jisung shrugged. “I didn’t use to. But I guess I do now? Yay, happy birthday to me!” He tacked on, sarcastically.

Younghyun chuckled. “It’s no longer your birthday, but if it helps any, I do have a present for you.”

Jisung turned around, staring wide-eyed at Younghyun as he welcomed the change of topic.

“You… what?”

Younghyun snorted.

“You didn’t think I’d forget to get my favourite squirrel-boy a birthday present, did you?! It’s in the back seat… Sit down, I’ll give it to you when we get to yours!”

Jisung was suddenly wide awake for the rest of the ride to his house. Once they arrived, Younghyun got out first to retrieve two boxes from the back-seat.

“Here… Don’t spend all night on it, ok? Oh, and- I’m taking these!”

Jisung stumbled over his protests when Younghyun took the paperwork out of Jisung’s hands, replacing it with the two boxes. He could only shut up, though, when Younghyun ruffled his hair again.

“Good night, Ji. See you tomorrow!”

Jisung nodded dumbly, murmuring a thanks and good night as Younghyun drove off, before taking himself and his gifts up to his small studio apartment.

Opening them, he was touched to tears; one of the boxes held a tiny, one-person sized cheesecake reading “Happy Birthday Sungie” - in Korean, no less - and the other, the handheld console and game he’d been longing for for ages. 

With tears in his eyes, he messaged Younghyun, thanking him for the gifts, just to get a voice message back telling him to go to sleep and that he was very welcome.

Jisung would have loved to try the console out immediately, but he was too tired even for bad decisions. In no time, he fell into his bed and was out like a light.

As soon as his eyes closed, he was sure he was opening them again. And again, he was back in that damned cave from the night before.

“You again!” The voice was all too familiar, too, and Jisung groaned, turning onto his side and closing his eyes. For all he cared, the idiot could run him through with his stupid sword; he didn’t have the energy to move and fight for another night.

“What do you think you are doing, just lying in my bed? I had the shittiest day because of you and I’m not about to let you rest where  _ I _ should be resting!”

Jisung peeked out from between his arms, glaring at the guy.

“Fuck off, would you? I had a fucking long day, too, and I certainly am not here by choice or because I have nothing better to do than battle some entitled asshole the entire night again. Kill me or whatever, see if I care! Hopefully that’ll make me wake up in a dream with less assholes…”

Before he could hide his head in his arms again, a third voice suddenly spoke up from further down in the cave.

“Uh, hello?”

Both Jisung and the other guy’s heads snapped around to see a newcomer standing in the cave.

“Great, more uninvited people! Who the fuck are  _ you _ ?” The entitled apparent owner of the cave barked, but the new stranger just blinked at him in confusion. Clearly, he got the hostility in the other’s tone, but not quite all the words.

“Uh… My name is Felix. I’m sorry, do you speak English?”

“No I do not speak English! The least you could do when coming into my world is speak my language!”

“I speak English, hi.” Jisung ignored the raging other guy and answered politely, sitting up in the bed. 

The newcomer beamed with relief, shifting closer to Jisung’s side.

“Oh, bless! Do you know what’s going on here? I fell asleep a second ago - or, I think I did – and suddenly I woke up here with these strange clothes and you guys fighting and whatnot, and I’m so confused…”

“You- wait, you just fell asleep and woke up here? Because- because that’s exactly how I got here, too!” Jisung exclaimed in surprise. “Not that this oaf there believes me, keeping on insisting I am here on purpose just to annoy him and trespass…” He tacked on, on second thought, glaring at his tormentor.

“Oh…! Are we intruding on him? That was never my intention...” The newcomer, Felix, looked contrite. “You have no idea how to leave, either?” 

Jisung shook his head, confirming Felix’s assumption. “No. Last time I came here I… kind of just blinked at some point and then I was back home.”

Felix nodded in understanding. “So, like, kind of like in a dream? Since we fell asleep and then suddenly we’re here, and then we blink and are back home...”

Jisung’s jaw dropped, Felix’s words making a lot of sense. He felt like an idiot that he hadn’t thought of that before.

“Would anyone care to let me know what the fuck is going on? Do you two know each other? Did you plan this on purpose just to annoy me?!” The still nameless guy raged eventually, putting himself between Jisung and Felix.

“I’m meeting him for the first time right now; not that you’ll believe me with how you think everything revolves around you. Neither of us know you or this place and don’t care, to, either. But we just came to the conclusion that all this must be some kind of weird shared dream, because apparently, we appear here just after falling asleep, and since I was suddenly back at home at some point before, like, uh… yesterday? That seems like the only plausible explanation.”

The guy gaped at Jisung, and slowly lowered his sword. “You… you’re here in your dream?” He asked, incredulous.

Jisung shrugged. “Yeah, seems like it. I do remember, uh, during the day, I suppose? I was so tired and felt achy all over from… yesterday. And I just got home and fell asleep and suddenly I’m here, and Felix over there said the same just happened to him.”

The guy turned to look at Felix, who waved shyly as he seemed to not understand much more than his name in that explanation.

To Jisung’s surprise, the guy just sheathed his sword completely and plopped down to sit on a pillow at the edge of the bed.

“You’re coming here in your dreams as soon as you fall asleep… But… how? And why here?”

Jisung shrugged, daring to relax a little, too, now that the other didn’t loom over him anymore.

“Beats me, man. It’s not the ideal situation for me, either. I deal with enough jackasses when I’m awake, last thing I need is to deal with them when I’m asleep, too. No thanks at all for  _ that _ birthday present; I want my dreamless sleep back!” He muttered the end, more to himself than to the others, but apparently it was still too loud.

“Wait, you came here on your birthday?” The other guy asked suddenly, loudly, and both Jisung and Felix flinched at the volume.

“Y-yeah?”

“Him, too?” He pointed at Felix, who took an involuntary step back.

Jisung shrugged but turned to Felix. “Is today your birthday, by chance?” He asked, in English, and the boy’s eyes lit up as he nodded.

“Yeah, since it’s past midnight, I suppose. I’m turning twenty!” Jisung gaped, and the other guy’s English must have been at least good enough to understand that part, too.

“Let me guess, you turned twenty yesterday, too?”

Jisung nodded, and the guy let out a defeated groan.

“Great. Looks like this is no mistake after all and I have to tolerate you guys from now on.” He grumbled, resting his head in his hands.

“What-… what do you mean?” Jisung asked, and the other looked up to glare at him. Contrary to all the times before, this time there was no heat behind it, though.

“I first came here six months ago, on my twentieth birthday. I just woke up here suddenly, and have every single night since then, as soon as I go to sleep. I’ve never seen any other human in this world in all this time; until you guys. It can’t be a mistake that you suddenly appear here on your twentieth birthdays, too.” He explained, sounding tired but no longer aggressive.

“What did he just say?” Felix butted in, coming closer now that he sensed he was no longer risking getting beheaded or punched in the face. Jisung translated for him.

“Oh… So that means we’ll be seeing each other regularly from now on?” He sounded way too excited about this, Jisung thought, and shrugged.

“Possibly, if it works the same for us as it does for him…”

“What did he just say?” The other guy asked, and Jisung gave him an annoyed glare, but translated as well.

The guy’s face soured.

“Yeah, lovely. Just when I thought I’d finally found a place I can live in in peace, respected and not judged. Just great.”

Jisung tilted his head in question. “I thought you said there were no other people here?”

The guy shook his head. “And there aren’t. That doesn’t mean there is no one around, though. There are thousands, if not millions of creatures out there.”

“Oh…” Jisung nodded slowly in understanding. “And you are like… their king, or something?”

He shook his head. “No. But they come to me when they need help with something, and I help them. And hang out with them from time to time. And they help me. They’re cool.”

“What… what are you guys talking about?” Felix butted in again, shyly this time as he clearly noticed Jisung’s annoyance before. With a sigh, Jisung filled him in.

“So, are we meant to do the same as him now? Are we in this place… this world, like some sort of guardians?” Felix sounded way too excited about this, but Jisung turned to translate the question without prompting this time.

“I don’t know. It’s just what I have been doing all this time. I guess you can, too, if you want. Apparently, it’s not like I can tell you what to do or not, anyway.”

Again, Jisung translated.

“That’s so cool! But… I don’t know what to do as a guardian, I think? I mean… Does everyone in this world speak Korean? My Korean is really poor. How would I understand everyone?”

Jisung relayed Felix’s question to the other guy, and he shrugged.

“They speak an entirely different language from us. It’s not English, either. Or any language I would recognize. But just wish to understand it, and you will.”

“Oh, it’s that easy? Then how come I can’t understand him? If all I need to do is wish to understand, shouldn’t it work with Korean and English, too?” Felix asked in wonder once Jisung had translated, and Jisung had to admit he had a point there. Unfortunately, the other guy didn’t have an answer for that, either.

“That’s too bad. Guess I’ll have to work on my Korean, then! Anyway! Since we’re apparently going to see a lot more of each other, we should introduce ourselves, right? As I said before, my name is Felix, and I’m from Australia. And you?”

Only then did Jisung realize he and the other guy had never introduced themselves, not to Felix and not to each other. In his mind, the other guy simply existed as “jerk”; that should probably change.

“Jisung. I’m Korean, but live in Malaysia.” He added the same in Korean, after translating Felix’s introduction for the apparently oldest in the room.

“Hyunjin. Korean, living in Korea.”

“Cool! Now, if this is your house, Hyunjin, Jisung and I should probably go look for another place to stay, no?” Felix suggested, and Jisung quite welcomed the idea. To his great surprise, Hyunjin shrugged nonchalantly about the suggestion, though.

“You’ll most likely just appear in here anyway when you wake up in this world. I don’t see the point of you finding somewhere else to stay if you’re going to pop up in my living room daily, anyway. And it’s not like I stay in here much. Just… Try not to mess up my things while I’m out.”

“Oh, that’s nice! Thanks!” Felix beamed, then turned to Hyunjin directly with a frown, trying to say the same in Korean. And also: “Where are you going?”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, vaguely indicating the entrance of the cave. “Outside? The other creatures in this world don’t come up here, I go meet them in the forest.”

That was too hard for Felix to understand, and Jisung had to translate.

“Ah, that makes sense. Do you want to go exploring, too, Jisung?”

Jisung didn’t particularly want to, but he had a feeling it would do him good to do so, and so he agreed. As he and Felix moved to exit the cave, Hyunjin surprisingly called them back.

“I can show you around, if you want…” He offered, his voice sounding unsure; as if he was half surprised he was offering in the first place, but also half scared they would decline the offer.

“Please!” Felix jumped excitedly, having understood without needing a translation; of all the things to understand, Jisung thought. And of all the things to accept! He kept quiet, though, letting Hyunjin show them the way out of the cave, down the side of the cliff and through the forest. Hours were spent wandering the lands, getting introduced to the most fantastic creatures and beautiful places. Maybe he wouldn’t admit it, but it was fun, in the end, and he didn’t regret accepting Hyunjin’s offer quite as much as he thought he would.

Their fun lasted until Felix cursed quietly eventually, causing the other two to turn around to look at him in mild shock, considering his speech had been nothing but polite the entire time. To their surprise, Felix’s form flickered before them.

“I think-… It looks like I have to go. See you tomorrow?”

Before either could answer, Felix disappeared.

“Did he just…”

“I think he woke up.” Hyunjin remarked, and Jisung nodded quietly.

They stood in silence, watching the spot where Felix had disappeared as awkwardness spread between them. The entire day, Jisung might have been talking a lot, but not really saying anything himself. All he was doing was translating between Hyunjin and Felix. Now that Felix was gone, though…

“Uh… Should we keep going, or head back, or…?” Hyunjin eventually asked quietly.

“Maybe… Slowly wander back? Does it matter where we are when we… when we wake up, in our real lives?”

Hyunjin shook his head. “No. I’ve always woken up back in the cave the next time I went to sleep, no matter where in this world I was when I woke up in reality.”

Jisung nodded pensively.

“Should we still wander back, just to, you know, have something to do?”

“Sure.” Hyunjin shrugged, indifferent, as he started leading the way back.

They walked in silence now, and it was no less awkward than when they had just been standing there after Felix had left.

“Uh, Hyunjin…” Jisung started eventually, and Hyunjin hummed in question and as a sign that he was listening.

“I just wanted to say… Sorry about yesterday. I get now that it must have been weird for you to suddenly have a stranger pop up in your place, and I should have tried explaining myself better and not act so… Well. Like that. It was quite rude of me, and I’m sorry.”

Jisung didn’t purposefully look at Hyunjin, but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the other’s ears turn red.

“I’m… Thanks. But… I acted like an ass, too. I didn’t even give you time to explain before trying to kill you. That wasn’t exactly nice of me, either. So, I’m sorry, too.”

Jisung couldn’t help himself as he felt a smile bloom on his face.

“Apology accepted. And actually… what’s up with that, anyway? You noticed it, too, right? That we can’t hurt each other?”

Hyunjin nodded quickly. “Yeah! Weird, right? But I think we can touch each other just fine; I mean, Felix has been tugging me around by the wrist half the day, and he touched you, too, right?”

Jisung nodded, and they came to a stop in the middle of the path they were following.

“But, can only Felix touch us, or…?” Hyunjin inquired, and Jisung shrugged, holding out his hand.

“I don’t know. Test it?”

Hyunjin reached out, placing his palm against Jisung’s. It felt just like any palm against Jisung’s hand: warm, smooth, with a few calluses he suspected Hyunjin might have gotten from working out; at least they were in the same places where Younghyun had rougher spots in his palms, too, and he claimed they were from his work-outs.

“So we can touch, but not hurt each other?” Jisung concluded, tearing his thoughts away from work-outs and his palm away from Hyunjin’s.

“I don’t know. Can I try to punch you to test it?”

Jisung huffed, indignant. “Why you? Why can’t  _ I _ punch  _ you _ to test it?!”

“Because I asked first?”

“That’s bullshit!” Jisung protested. Then, without warning, he struck out to land a punch on Hyunjin’s shoulder. Hyunjin didn’t have time to dodge, but he didn’t have to: Jisung’s punch never landed on him, his arm moving with a mind of its own to miss the other, and he stumbled with the momentum, nearly falling. Out of instinct, Hyunjin actually caught him before he could fall, but let go as soon as Jisung was standing.

“I should have let you eat dirt, asshole!”

Jisung grinned at him. “Valid. Thanks for catching me, though. And I guess now we know for sure: we can’t hurt each other! Which means I can annoy the fuck out of you and you can’t do shit about it!”

Hyunjin’s eyes narrowed at Jisung, and then he turned, starting to walk away from Jisung.

“I miss Felix. Why did he have to be the one waking up early; why not you?!”

***

“Channiiiie! Please help me learn Korean?” Felix pestered his cousin for the millionth time that week.

Chan sighed, rolling his eyes while unloading the dishwasher.

“What’s with you and suddenly wanting to learn Korean? You’ve been refusing for so long and now all of a sudden-… Is this some kind of birthday resolution? New age, new you?”

Felix laughed nervously. “Uh, yeah, hahah…” He shut up, swallowing thickly at the look Chan was giving him before shutting the dishwasher.

“Ok, so that is  _ not  _ it. You’re shit at lying. So, spill! What’s the real reason?”

Felix bit his lip as Chan pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Chan; he told him everything, after all. He just didn’t know exactly how to put it without sounding... well, crazy.

“Uhm, well, actually…” He started hesitantly, and Chan gave him an encouraging look. “It’s going to sound very silly, but… Ever since a few nights ago, I’ve started having those weird dreams…”

Chan raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Dreams? But you don’t dream…”

“I didn’t! Until, well, my birthday, to be exact.” Felix shrugged. “And since then, I’ve had this dream, that… Well, it’s not always the same, but it’s kind of always in the same place? The same world. And there are always the same two guys there, and one of them only speaks Korean. And I don’t always want to rely on Jisu- on the other one to translate for us. So, I thought, if I learned Korean, maybe I would be able to understand the guy in my dreams and talk to him directly, too?”

Chan nodded slowly, an unreadable look on his face, and didn’t say anything for the longest time. Felix started to freak out a little.

“Uhm, I-… You know what, forget it. It’s probably a stupid idea, anyway, I mean, what does it matter if some guy in my dreams understands me, right, haha-” he started to gather his books hastily, ready to bolt out of the room when Chan caught him.

“Sit your-…! Sit down, I was just thinking! Jeez, Felix. Calm down, would you? I’m not judging you or anything. I think it’s great that you want to learn Korean, no matter the reason! But… Tell me more about those dreams of yours? Please?”

Felix sat back down slowly, wary. “Uhm… like what?”

Chan shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know. What do you do in those dreams? What happens there? It must be a lot, if you keep having them…”

“Actually… Not really?” Felix shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I just… I wake up there, usually alone. And after a while, Hyu- uh, the one that only speaks Korean shows up, and the other one last. And then we kind of just… We just wander around the world and explore and meet a bunch of fantastic creatures, and sometimes we spar with swords and daggers and such; well, that’s them, for some reason I always use nunchakus and throwing stars, and I’m way better with them in my dreams than I am in reality. Anyway, we also kind of help out with stuffs and troubles the creatures come with to us and they give us food and gifts and it’s all really cute most of the time.” He rambled, and Chan listened intently.

“That sounds like really nice dreams…” Chan mused. “And it’s just you and those two and all the creatures? No one else?”

Felix shook his head. “No. The three of us are the only people there. I mean, there are the nymphs and the tree spirits and such, but they aren’t really human.”

“Interesting…” Chan trailed off with a pensive expression, and Felix couldn’t help but notice his strange behaviour again.

“What’s so interesting?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Chan denied quickly. “Just… interesting concept. Like, the world and all, that you dream of it and the same two guys every night… They are both guys, right?”

Felix gave Chan a suspicious look. “Yeah… And so what?”

“Oh, nothing! Don’t be so defensive, I’m just making sure I got it right!”

Something about the look in Chan’s eyes told Felix there was definitely more, but Chan would never tell him if he didn’t want to.

“Anyway. Are you going to help me with Korean now or not?” Felix asked eventually, and Chan straightened up.

“Yes, of course, sure. So, where were you and what did you need help with?”

***

“Whoa, guys!” Felix exclaimed suddenly, on one of their many outings down to the river. They’d promised a family of saber-tooth beavers to help with an obstacle in the river that was threatening their dam the day before and made sure to hurry down as soon as they were all together in the cave. “Did you guys see that?”

“See what?” Jisung asked, confused, looking around in the direction Felix was pointing. Felix didn’t explain, however, hurrying in the direction himself to look around.

After exchanging a confused look with Hyunjin, Jisung followed Felix, who was now standing at the river-bank, turning around himself and looking searchingly in every direction.

“Felix? What is it?” Jisung asked when him and Hyunjin caught up. 

“I could have sworn…” Felix muttered, turning around again. “It looked like there was someone here. Someone… Someone not- Hey!” he exclaimed suddenly. “Little Fish! Wait up!” He hurried to the edge of the water, where a walking fish was just about to disappear in the waves. The fish stopped, looking back at him. “Have you seen someone on this shore before we arrived- oh! What happened to your fin?” Only then did he notice a makeshift compress made with leaves wrapped around one of the fish’s fins.

“Nothing, nothing. The good Sir made it all better already, no need to worry…” The fish mumbled, stepping further into the water and starting to wash their fins. The leaves fell away, and with them a cakey dried up substance that looked like a mix of crushed plants, algae and mud.

“The- what? I didn’t do anything?” Felix stuttered, confused, watching the fin get cleaned and show up perfectly fine once the rest of the crushed plants washed away.

The fish looked up at him with an amused expression – as far as a fish could have an amused expression, anyway. “Not  _ you _ …” They chuckled, before slipping into the clear water of the river and swimming off.

“Huh… That was weird….”

“What’s weird is you! Care to tell us what’s going on?” Jisung stemmed his hands into his hips, blocking Felix’s way back up the river-bank now that he'd finally caught up.

“Hey, don’t be mean! I thought I’d seen something – someone – here on the bank, but when I arrived no one was here. And then the fish said ‘the good Sir’ had made their fin better, but it wasn’t me, and you were so far away, and-… Oh, whatever! Let’s just go help the beavers!” Felix broke off exasperatedly when Jisung’s expression remained full of doubt and disbelief as well as worry for Felix’s sanity.

Felix stomped off, missing the look of confusion exchanged again between Jisung and Hyunjin.

Helping the beavers took a good part of the day – also because they kept fooling around in the water, splashing, dipping each other under, letting the current carry them downstream – and it was much later when they finally dried off at the riverbank, their skin wrinkly and blue from the cold water.

While Jisung was hopping around, flailing his limbs to shake off the water clinging to him, Hyunjin made a show of gathering magic in his body, using it suddenly to force all water away from him in a kind of shock-wave and leaving him dry in an instant. Rolling his eyes at the show-off, Jisung turned away, just to see Felix get rid of the water on him by evaporating it.

“This is not fair. Really not fair.” Jisung whined, stomping his foot for good measure. “Why do both of you get such cool powers and all I have is some measly telekinesis that doesn’t even do much and drains me like hell. Really, not fair!”

Hyunjin laughed, poking his tongue out at Jisung. “Sucks to suck, Sungie-poo.” He taunted, skipping away when Jisung lunged at him. Jisung didn’t go far after Hyunjin, Felix catching him by the wrist and using his own elemental powers to evaporate the water on Jisung’s body, too.

“Don’t listen to him, Sung. You have your own set of powers; you just never notice them.”

Jisung frowned at Felix as the other handed him his clothes.

“How can I not notice my own powers? That doesn’t even make sense….!”

Felix sighed, though, motioning for Jisung to hurry up getting dressed. Jisung did, and Felix walked him over to a patch of grass and wildflowers.

“Do you see those?” Felix asked seriously, but Jisung answered testily.

“What? Of course I see them. What’s wrong with them?”

“Nothing is wrong with them.” Felix shook his head. “Now sit down in them.”

Jisung didn’t understand Felix’s reasoning but followed his request after all.

“Ok. And what now?”

“Now we wait a moment.”

“Felix, if you are just messing with me-”

“I’m not. Just wait a few seconds.” Felix reassured him. In the meantime, Hyunjin had caught wind of their odd doings and decided to come over. Jisung glared at him upon seeing the curious but amused look he wore.

“I swear, if you say anything right now, Hwang Hyunjin-”

“Ok, it worked!” Felix interrupted Jisung quickly, pointing at the flowers around Jisung.

Jisung let himself get distracted, looking at where Felix was pointing, and jumped up with a startled yell.

“W-what?! How! I didn’t do that! How did that-What’s happening?!”

Some of the flowers around where Jisung had been sitting were drooping, others had closed, some leaves had curled up.

“Why do they look like this, why do they look so… hurt?!” Jisung demanded again, sadness leaking into his voice as he crouched down and gently caressed one of the drooping flowers’ petals. Slowly, it righted itself up again, and a few of the other flowers and leaves started unfurling and unrolling themselves again, too.

“Your emotions and your general mood affect what’s around you, Sung. The same way that your surroundings affect you.” Felix explained calmly. “You were sulking, angry, annoyed; it reflected upon the flowers. At the same time, though, it’s a beautiful day, and all the creatures around here radiate happiness, especially the beaver family. You got worried about the flowers and the general happiness of the environment around us turned the worry into love. And that reflected back onto the flowers, too.”

Behind Felix, Hyunjin inhaled sharply.

“Holy shit! You’re an empath, Sung!”

Jisung’s jaw dropped, and he looked around himself in horror. “Oh, no! No, no, no! I can’t be, this is terrible! Please tell me that’s a joke!” He sounded near panicked, and Felix reached out to catch Jisung before he stumbled and hurt himself on the slippery stones of the river-bank.

“Hey, Sung, calm down! What’s wrong, why are you so worried?”

Jisung kept shaking his head, though.

“This is horrible! Don’t you understand, Lix?” He gave Felix a pleading look, holding on to his hands in turn. “My emotions are a jumbled mess on a good day, a total disaster on a bad one! I can’t be an empath, I can’t have my mood affecting and hurting things around me, that’s just- Just terrifying! And really not fair!”

Felix sighed, pulling Jisung closer and into a hug, hoping he wouldn’t see how his freak-out right now was starting to affect the trees a good few meters away from them.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, Sung. It’s not that bad. You just need to learn to control your powers, the same way Hyunjin and I have to learn to control ours. It’s not like your powers will run rampant out of control affecting everything in your path forever!”

“Yeah.” Hyunjin chimed in then, coming up to pat Jisung’s back comfortingly. “And if all else fails, you can always just stop feeling any emotions!”

Over Jisung’s shoulder, Felix glared at the older, understanding enough Korean by now to get what Hyunjin was suggesting.

“That’s terrible advice, Hyunjin!”

Jisung stood up, though, leaning out of Felix’s embrace.

“No, wait, actually-”

Felix was quick to catch Jisung’s face in his hands, turning his head so he was forced to look at him.

“Han Jisung, you listen to me! That is  _ not _ good advice! Don’t listen to the nonsense Hyunjin is saying! That can’t be the solution! Oh for Pete’s sake, you are not actually going to listen to him, are you?”

Jisung refused to leave the cave for a few weeks, insisting he learn to try and control his emotions first before he returned to the forest with Felix and Hyunjin. His emotions, not his powers, much to Felix’s dismay. There was no reasoning with him, however.

One good thing came out of Jisung’s voluntary seclusion, though: with Felix and Hyunjin left alone without an interpreter, both Felix’s Korean and Hyunjin’s English improved a lot in their shared time together.

Much like his prowess with the nunchakus and throwing stars, Felix expected nothing of his improved Korean skills to transpire over to his awake self, but he was wrong there; his Korean improved at a rapid pace even in the “awake world”, much to especially Chan’s surprise; and delight.

“You’ve been improving a lot! Pros of having extra tutoring while asleep, huh?” Chan joked after another study session with Felix.

“Yeah…” Felix sighed. “Without Jisung there I have no choice but to learn if I want to talk with Hyunjin.”

He’d since decided to reveal the names of the other two to Chan; he couldn’t keep anything from his cousin for long, ever. Not that he ever had to. There was possibly not a single more understanding and non-judgmental being in all the universes than Chan.

“Oh? What happened for Jisung not to come anymore?” Chan asked, genuine interest and worry in his voice.

Felix shrugged with a sigh.

“Nothing much, really. He’s still there, it’s not like he doesn’t show up anymore. But he’s determined not to embrace his powers as an empath and instead suppress his own emotions so they can’t affect the beings around him anymore!”

Chan grimaced.

“That doesn’t sound pleasant. Nor practical. He can’t suppress all of his emotions forever! He’d probably have a much easier time learning how to control his powers and keep a check on them than his emotions!”

“Right?!” Felix exasperated. “That’s what I’ve been saying, too! But no one ever listens to me! I swear, the combined true chaotic energy between those two, it’s going to drive me nuts one day!”

Chan chuckled, looking fondly at his frustrated cousin.

“That sounds like a lot of exasperation over one incident… Or do they not listen to you in other aspects, too?”

Felix huffed, feeling caught out by Chan. He was quick to admit what bothered him, though.

“No, there’s something else… For a while now, I’ve had the suspicion that there is someone else who comes to the same world we do, but always when we’re not there. I’m almost always the first there, because time-zones, and because their sleep schedules are almost as much of a mess as yours. But more than once now, I’ve thought that I’ve seen someone, someone that is not one of the creatures of the forest, but they always disappear before I can make sure I’m not imagining things. Also, there are signs in the cave that someone else has been there. Like, objects appearing that weren’t there before, other objects changing place, fruit and nuts disappearing… And Hyunjin says the creatures of the forest never come up to our cave, like, they can’t get in, but I’m  _ sure _ someone is in there when we are all out!”

Chan hummed in thought.

“And Jisung and Hyunjin don’t believe you?”

Felix grimaced.

“It’s not that they outright don’t believe me… It’s more like… They’re always like ‘are you sure you saw something?’, ‘are you sure Jisung didn’t move that thing after we left?’, ‘are you sure we didn’t bring this back a few days ago?’… They’ve never seen anything and find excuses for everything else. It’s… frustrating.”

“Sounds like it… But if that person comes into that cave of yours… Why don’t you try writing a letter to them and leaving it there?” Chan suggested after a moment of thought. “Maybe they are just as lost as you when they get there and find the things in the cave changing place but never seeing anyone.”

Felix gaped at Chan, eyes wide and jaw slack.

“Oh my god, Channie! That’s… That’s genius!” He exclaimed, jumping up to round the table and throw his arms around Chan in a hug. Chan laughed patting his back.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, thanks! Don’t think that’s going to get you out of dishes-duty tonight, though!”

Felix’s face fell instantly.

“But, Channiiiie!” He whined. “I have an essay due tomorrow that I need to finish up and that’s already going to take up so much of my night…!”

Chan remained unforgiving, though.

“Should have thought about that sooner! Who said you need to get a full eight hours of sleep every night, anyway? You’re a college student; your species is not  _ supposed _ to get that much sleep! Dishes, punk!” He ruffled Felix’s hair, skipping out of the room.

Felix pouted, but it did nothing; especially since Chan didn’t turn back around and didn’t even see it.

Annoyed, Felix trudged over to the dishwasher, starting to unload it.

***

If there was one thing the boy knew for sure, it was that when he’d left the day before, there had not been any piece of paper pinned to the pillar opposite the bed he woke up in every time just moments after falling asleep.

With careful steps – not so much because he was afraid, but out of anticipation because of this clear sign that there was at least one other person in this world that came to this cave - he approached the pillar, reaching out for the letter. In the very last moment, he decided against taking it down; what if it wasn’t for him, what if it wasn’t even a letter, and what if it upset the person who’d put it up if he took it down?

Despite all of that, he was too curious to just ignore the piece, and got close enough to read it without taking it down. His breath hitched immediately as he saw who the letter – it was a letter after all – was addressed to.

_ “Dear stranger, _

_ I don’t know what to write to you… _

_ Do you exist? Please answer!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to find out how to have me write a story for you, too, you can find out on my twitter [Link text](https://twitter.com/writtenonwings)@writtenonwings


	3. Out of Sync

“Jisung! Finally! I have something to show you both!” 

Felix burst out as soon as Jisung appeared in the cave, too. At the same time, Hyunjin exhaled in relief, rolling his eyes.

“Finally, indeed. He’s been unbearable.” He informed Jisung, before making a shooing motion at Felix. “Go on, show us once and for all what’s got you so excited!” 

Jisung’s gaze travelled between Felix and Hyunjin in confusion, but he eventually opted to just sit down next to Hyunjin and wait for what was to come. Felix didn’t waste any more time, either, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“So, you know I’ve been suspecting there’s someone else who comes to this cave, besides us. And to prove it, to you guys and myself, I wrote them a letter! And guess what! They answered!” He squealed in excitement as he waved the letter in front of Hyunjin and Jisung. 

The two exchanged a look between them and frowned, though, Jisung plucking the piece of paper out of Felix’s hands to read it.

“ _ Hello to you, too, stranger. _

_ I do, in fact, exist. I’m sorry if I caused any disturbances in your home; I try to spend as little time as possible here once I arrive. I hope you can forgive me for my unintentional but somehow unavoidable trespassing. Let me know if I can make it up to you.  _

_ Kindly,  _

_ Kim Seungmin. _ ”

They read the note in silence, exchanging another look between them before looking back up to Felix.

“This just appeared here?” Hyunjin asked skeptically, but Felix shook his head.

“It’s an answer to the note I left yesterday!”

“Right…” Hyunjin nodded slowly, remembering Felix sticking the note to the pillar before he woke up. “And that stranger answered. And now?”

“Now I know I’m not imagining things and that there really is someone else coming here!” Felix exclaimed happily, but while Hyunjin nodded in mildly enthusiastic support, Jisung’s frown remained in place.

“Are you sure this is legit? I mean… What if the answer was just there because you wished for it? Just like how everything else just appears out of thin air if we just want it enough…”

Felix’s smile dropped, and Jisung regretted bursting his bubble in such a way as he pouted.

“But… How would I even make that happen…? All I wished for was that the person answered, but I never specified how! And- I couldn’t just subconsciously make up a name I’ve never heard before, now could I? And the handwriting isn’t similar to anything I could do, either. Nor are the korean words; I don’t have enough vocabulary to answer myself in such an elaborate way!”

Jisung shrugged helplessly, handing Felix the note back.

“I mean… You have a point, but… Listen, all I’m saying is, don’t trust this note too much, ok? It could be real as much as it could not be. You can’t know for sure. Besides, what does it even matter if there is someone else who comes here, too? For all we know there could be tons of people which we just never meet. Who knows if you’ve even been seeing traces of the same person? If I were you, I’d be a lot more reserved about all this, a lot more suspicious.”

Felix’s enthusiasm dropped along with his shoulders, and Jisung felt bad for him. To make up for bursting his bubble, the least he could do was go over and hug Felix tightly.

“I’m sorry, Lix. I just want you to be careful and make sure you don’t let your hopes get unrealistically high so you won’t be too disappointed if it all turns out much different from what you expected.” 

Felix pouted, but hugged Jisung back. Jisung gave great hugs, after all.

“I know…” He sighed. “Maybe you’re right…”

***

Seungmin bowed to the centaur, who quickly urged him to stand back up and bowed instead - just not too deep to not aggravate the wound on his back that Seungmin had just treated. 

“Please, don’t bow! I owe you, young Sir; don’t bow to me! Thank you so, so much for your help!”

“You don’t owe me!” Seungmin shook his head and raised his hands to wave off the notion. “I see it as my duty to help where I can. Just make sure not to make any hasty or strenuous movements and your back should be as good as new in no time.”

The centaur inclined his head again, thanked Seungmin once more, and eventually left. And so did Seungmin, strolling further into the forest, without destination. It was what he always did, just stroll aimlessly in any direction his feet would take him, and help those who needed it along the way. Somehow, he instinctively always knew where he’d be needed once he set out from the cave.

His shoulders slumped as thoughts about the cave popped into his mind. He’d been so excited when he found that note, so excited to finally talk to whoever lived in the cave he woke up in every time he went to sleep in the “real” world, but he never got an answer to his reply to that one note. Maybe whoever had written it just didn’t want anything to do with him...

Seungmin shook his head, dispelling such thoughts. He didn’t have the time for this, there were creatures in this forest who needed his help and he shouldn’t waste time.

Once dispelled, those useless thoughts stayed away for the rest of the time Seungmin had in this world, until he woke up. Only after he’d gotten up and stood in the shower did thoughts about the workings of the dream world come back, and only because he noticed a long scratch on his arm. He’d been scratched by a panicked swan-like bird when it had gotten spooked as he tried to help them in the dream. It had hurt, but he’d healed himself right after setting the bird free again, so it wasn’t that bad anymore, but the traces were still visible. 

By then, he was long since used to injuries and marks of what he’d been doing in his dreams carrying over into his life when awake. Maybe he shouldn’t be, and maybe he should be more put off by it, but strangely enough, he wasn’t. Just as he wasn’t surprised that he was a healer in the dream-world, too, when he was a med-student in the real world.

Maybe that wasn’t right, Seungmin thought as he turned off the water and wrapped himself in a towel. If wounds he got in his dreams hurt and carried over to when he was awake, then the dream world was as real as the awake-world. He needed to find a better moniker for this world! Well… On the other hand, it wasn’t like it mattered what he called it, anyway, since he didn’t really have anyone to tell about it.

He’d told his roommate about his dreams before, when they’d first started. About how he was a healer even in his dreams now, and how he wished that healing in this world was as easy as it was in his dreams (to which Minho had remarked that he still had to know how bodies worked and what to do to heal in his dreams, too, so in the end, knowledge-wise, it wasn’t all too different. Seungmin had found Minho had made a good point, and from then on, focused harder on what it was he was doing in his dreams to try and remember it for when he was awake. He could use all the time possible to revise an practice, and if he could revise in his dreams, he’d take it!).

Once he’d found his dreams to be a bit too real, though, or just another extension of reality, it would seem, he’d stopped mentioning them to Minho as much. He didn’t want his roommate to think he was crazy, after all. And so all Minho knew was that he had recurring dreams about the same place, but he’d never told him about his suspicion that it was actually an extension of the reality he lived in during the day; one that had very limited access for other people, but that he suspected a few other people to have access to, too, and never mind that one had left him a note and he’d replied - even if he’d never gotten an answer to his reply.

Actually, that bit left Seungmin kind of bitter, and if he used way more force than was necessary when putting tools down as he prepared breakfast, that was his business and his business alone.

Thankfully, that was enough to get the bitterness out of his system, and soon his mind was way too busy with following lectures, working through labs, discussing projects, and whatever else a regular day in med-school had in store for him, for him to think too much about the dream world. And it stayed that way pretty much until he fell asleep again and woke up in said world.

As always, he headed straight out of the cave and into the forest as soon as he got his bearings, and he fully intended on staying out for the entire duration of his stay. His pretty much infallible gut-feeling about where he was needed during his time there had other plans for him today, though. He kept having the urge to go back to the cave the whole time, and eventually he gave in; his gut feeling had never been wrong before, after all.

Despite knowing that his gut-feeling would always lead him to someone in need of help, he had expected to find the cave empty, as none of the creatures in the forest ever ventured up there. Therefore, he was quite surprised when he arrived to find someone lying in the mountain of pillows and blankets in the middle of the main room! By the looks of it, the boy had been there for a while, too, and he was-... 

Sleeping. Sleeping, in a dream-world you got access to through your dreams while asleep in-... the awake world (?). Seungmin shook his head, deciding to focus on the technicalities and whether it all made sense or not later. For now, there was someone here, in this cave, in that bed, sleeping, and from what Seungmin could see, it wasn’t a peaceful sleep. If Seungmin had to bet on it, he’d put his money on saying the boy was having pretty bad nightmares.

Seungmin grimaced; he might never have had nightmares himself, never even having dreamt before he one day woke up in this world, but he knew from Minho just how horrible nightmares could be. And no matter who this boy was, he was sure he didn’t deserve to be plagued by them. Therefore, Seungmin decided to wake him up, save him the pain. 

He had to touch the boy for that, though, and as soon as he did, he hissed as if he’d been burned. He hadn’t, of course, the boy’s skin wasn’t  _ that _ hot, but… It was still way too hot to be normal. 

Gently, he laid his hand against the boy’s forehead, and true enough, it was scalding. The boy was running a pretty high fever, and dream-world or not, Seungmin was sure this couldn’t be healthy. He had to try to bring the guy’s temperature down. 

As he always did, he conjured what he needed out of thin air, a basin with cold water and some clean rags appearing next to him. With methodic movements, he soaked the rags, folding one to rest on the boy’s forehead, and using another to wipe down his sweat-soaked face, neck, and arms. 

As he worked, the boy stopped moving about as much, lying still eventually. He missed him waking up, though, until the boy spoke.

“Who-... Who are you?”

Not ‘Where am I?’, which Seungmin would expect someone waking up in this cave to ask first and foremost, so he concluded he must be someone who knew this place well.

“My name is Seungmin. Kim Seungmin.” He answered truthfully, and to his surprise, recognition lit up the boy’s feverish eyes.

“You answered my note!” He whispered, almost reverently.

Seungmin’s eyes widened in surprise: this was the person who’d written him the note? But, if he’d gotten his answer, why had he never replied?! Anger surged through him, but he quickly stomped down on it.

“So it was you who wrote that letter…” He mumbled instead. “What’s your name?”

“Felix.” The boy answered, closing his eyes with a groan right after. “Why… I was hoping that sleeping would help with this stupid fever, and now I wake up here and  _ still _ have to deal with it… This sucks, I want a refund!”

Seungmin couldn’t help but chuckle at the cute whining coming from… Felix.

“I wasn’t sure you really existed, even though you answered…” Felix spoke up again after a moment, eyes still closed. “Jisung said it could be that the answer only appeared because I really hoped for it, and since then... I guess I just kind of gave up. I’m happy you are real, though… Very happy…” He trailed off with a sigh, and Seungmin was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep again.

Well. That at least explained why he never got an answer to his reply. But, who the heck was Jisung? There were even more people who came here, and not just Felix? Or was Jisung someone in the awake-world that Felix confided in?

Seungmin shook his head, forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn’t need them now, not when he wouldn’t get answers to his questions, anyway, with Felix asleep once again. 

While he was asleep, he quickly appeared to be dreaming again, too, and Seungmin decided to figure something out to cure this fever. First and foremost, change the rag on his forehead, and then… He did have some nifty powers in this world, and it would really be a joke if he couldn’t use them to cure a simple, stupid fever!

***

Felix woke up to the low murmur of voices somewhere close by. He blinked his eyes open slowly, and found them focusing on Hyunjin and Jisung sitting right next to him. Without moving too much, since he was sure it would do his head no favours at all, he tried looking around, but there were no traces of Seungmin.

“Hey, sleepyhead…” Hyunjin called eventually, and Felix looked up at him. “Good morning to you, too.”

“Hey…” Felix replied, groggy still. “Is Seungmin still here?”

Hyunjin frowned, looking confused.

“Seungmin…?”

Felix sighed, closing his eyes again.

“Guess not, then…”

“You mean you actually met the guy from the note?!” Jisung suddenly exclaimed, making Felix wince at the volume. Still he hummed in affirmation.

“I went to sleep really early because I was feeling like shit with the fever and all… And slept for what felt like ages, but when I finally woke up here, he was there. And he did something to help me with the fever, but I fell asleep again…”

He felt a cool hand against his forehead, recognizing it as Hyunjin’s by its softness. 

“It doesn’t feel as if you have a fever…”

“I don’t feel like I have a fever  _ anymore _ . I felt like death, earlier.”

Hyunjin hummed, brushing Felix’s hair out of his forehead and picking up the rag that had slipped off and was lying on the pillow now.

“So I suppose it was Seungmin and not you who conjured this bowl and the rags, too…” Jisung assumed, and Felix turned to look at where he was pointing.

“I have no idea where those came from.” He answered truthfully, and Jisung nodded.

“Makes sense. I suppose we owe you an apology for not believing you sooner, and that Seungmin guy our thanks, if he really cured your fever.”

Despite still feeling like crap, Felix smiled as a sense of relief washed through him.

“You can make up for it by cuddling me, and I might consider forgiving you.”

Jisung didn’t have to be asked twice to snuggle up next to Felix, wrapping his arms around him to cuddle him. Hyunjin needed the extra invitation of Felix tugging on his sleeve, though.

“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you after you got his reply to your note…” He defended himself, all while in the process of lying down on Felix’s other side, anyway.

“You didn’t say you believed me, either. Come cuddle.”

Hyunjin sighed, but Felix was pretty sure he didn’t actually mind, considering the way he was tucking himself against his side.

“So, I suppose today is a not-going-outside day?” He asked once he’d gotten comfortable.

“Going outside is overrated anyway.”

Felix chuckled at Jisung’s reply, feeling sleepy again and very content with the current arrangement; and even more so when Hyunjin conjured a blanket to drape over the three of them. They settled down after that, letting silence envelop them as they cuddled, taking turns drifting in and out of sleep for the rest of the time there. 

Eventually, Felix’s alarm woke him up, and he had to leave Hyunjin and Jisung. Without Felix there, and given their general underlying awkwardness that had yet to go away completely, one would expect them to be awkward on their own; and yet, somehow, they weren’t. 

Hyunjin was asleep when Felix woke up and had to leave, and he wasn’t all too happy with suddenly losing his cuddle buddy - and so, he latched onto the next best alternative, which just so happened to be Jisung. Jisung was understandably surprised by the sudden turn of events, but he didn’t protest. Hyunjin was warm, and his embrace comforting. He was big, too, and Jisung loved how comfortably he fit against him. No, protesting was the last thing on his mind.

When Hyunjin eventually woke up, finding himself clinging to Jisung instead of Felix, he was confused for a moment, but seeing as Jisung seemed to have no problem with being wrapped up in his arms, he settled down again.

“You are unfairly comfortable.” Jisung stated eventually.

“Why is it unfair?”

“Because I don’t want it to end, but your alarm is going to ring any moment now, and I don’t know when the next time you’d be willing to cuddle me like this is going to be.” The comfort of Hyunjin’s embrace and the intimate atmosphere of the situation made Jisung uncharacteristically open and vulnerable.

Hyunjin let his words sink in, taking a while before he mustered the courage to give his honest answer.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

“How about tomorrow for cuddles? When we come back here. How about we cuddle again tomorrow?”

Jisung’s heart warmed, speeding up, too, and he was sure Hyunjin could feel it with how close they were lying to each other. And then Hyunjin tightened his embrace suddenly.

“I have to go. Hurry up and come as soon as you can tomorrow, ok? I’ll miss you.” He whispered, but before Jisung could answer, Hyunjin was gone. Jisung was left alone, with a rapidly beating heart and feeling cold without Hyunjin and Felix to cuddle him. He might as well wake up early and get a headstart on work, he decided; maybe that’d help get him home and to sleep earlier at the end of the day.

***

Despite their best attempts, Felix, Jisung and Hyunjin never managed to catch even a glimpse of Seungmin for quite a while from that day on, and eventually it started slipping their minds again; especially because something else suddenly occupied them.

“I’m going on a trip.” Hyunjin had suddenly announced one day. “My parents are taking me with them, to the US. Not for long, but I have no idea how that’ll work with timezones and sleeping schedules and such in the meantime. We might not run into each other here as much.”

And true to his words, Felix and Jisung eventually found themselves alone in the cave, waiting in vain for him the day Hyunjin had told them he’d leave. 

The mood was somber, and they practically clung to each other for comfort the whole day, even when they left the cave. At least their hands were always tightly clasped in each other’s, if they weren’t hugging or leaning against each other wherever they stood, sat or laid. Where once their time in the dream world felt way too short, now it dragged on without end. And yet, they knew they were lucky, since they still had each other. But what about Hyunjin?

Well…

Hyunjin was used to being alone in the dream world; he’d been alone for six months, after all. But oh how he’d gotten used to  _ not _ being alone anymore!

He’d slept on the plane to the States, and found himself alone in the dream-world; that was expected. But when he went to sleep at night and found himself alone, he was disappointed. Logically, he knew he’d be alone, but finding it confirmed was different. He was bored, to put it simply, and yet he lacked the motivation to go anywhere, to do anything. Still he busied himself tidying the cave for a bit, before he conjured a book, grabbed some pillows and blankets against the winter chill, and went to sit in the sun by the cave's entrance, protected from the wind, to read in hopes of the time passing quickly.

He found it hard to focus at first, but eventually the story pulled him in and he forgot everything around him; so much so that when there was a noise at some point - a voice, more precisely - he was so startled that his jump nearly toppled him over the edge of the rock-ledge he was sitting on. He only didn't because the person startling him reacted quickly and pulled him away from the edge and to safety mid-jump.

"Whoa, careful there! If you hurt yourself here, it'll carry over to the awake world!"

Hyunjin hurried to compose himself, all the while scrambling to put some distance between himself and the stranger.

"Awake world? You- you come here while sleeping, too? You're from the real world? Who- who are you?!" He stammered hastily, reaching down for his sword when his back hit rock.

"I'm Seungmin." The stranger answered. "And you… are not Felix."

Hyunjin shook his head. "No. I'm Hyunjin. And you're the guy who helped Felix when he was sick." He concluded.

The other nodded with a smile. 

"Yes. Did he feel better when he woke up in the awake world?"

Hyunjin could only shrug.

"I can't know for sure. But he was better the next evening."

Seungmin nodded slowly, pensive.

"So you don't know him in the awake world, too. Only here."

"Yeah… He lives in Australia, and I in Korea." Hyunjin explained. "And you…?" He tacked on the question.

"The US. Los Angeles."

Hyunjin nodded slowly.

"That makes sense…"

Seungmin tilted his head curiously.

"What does?"

"Why neither of us ever met you before, except for Felix when he slept the day away when he was sick. The sleep schedules of people in Sydney, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur don't really overlap with Los Angeles."

Seungmin nodded slowly.

"Yes… That does make sense… But, Malaysia? I thought you said you and Felix are from Korea and Australia. Who…?"

"Jisung."

"Ah… Right. Felix mentioned him… So, there's three of you."

Hyunjin confirmed it with a nod, then tilted his head in contemplation.

"How are you not surprised by any of this? Have you been coming here for long? Felix said he didn't talk that much with you when you met…"

“Two months, almost.” Seungmin shrugged. “And I didn’t talk much with Felix, no. But I talk a lot with the creatures in the forest. They’ve been telling me a lot about this world.”

Curiosity sparked within Hyunjin, prompting him to question Seungmin on what he had found out. They moved inside, into the cave and out of the cold to talk, and did so for the rest of the night.

For the longest time, Hyunjin had assumed this world to be a figment of his own imagination, one that somehow Felix and Jisung seemed to be able to enter, too, more recently. But from what he heard from Seungmin, that didn’t seem to be all there was to it, after all. 

Apparently, this world was more like a parallel plane, one they didn’t quite travel to physically, but that still affected their physical bodies in the world they belonged to. The time-flow in this plane was the same as in their world, too, but while the seasons matched those on Earth’s northern hemisphere, even if not quite as prominently, there was no night and day rhythm. And while the world had distinct rules for its inhabitants, those didn’t necessarily apply to them, the ones just visiting this world. Or, at least, there were different rules for them, which, compared to their life in the awake-world (as Seungmin called it), made them incredibly powerful here. 

Eventually the night came to an end for Seungmin, who had to get up for classes, and Hyunjin, whose parents gracefully let him sleep his jetlag off a little longer, was alone again. With nothing better to do, he decided to follow Felix’s example from when he’d first contacted Seungmin and leave a note for him and Jisung.

***

Felix was radiant when he discovered the note from Hyunjin, and even more so after reading the contents, telling them about Seungmin and more about the world’s workings. 

Once Jisung arrived, they worked on a lengthy reply, for both Hyunjin and Seungmin. Obviously, Felix had been longing to meet him again for a while now, but with Hyunjin meeting the other, too, Jisung’s curiosity was also sparked.

And thus, a daily exchange of letters started. It made in no way up for meeting Hyunjin in person, though, and when he finally returned to Korea and his sleep schedule aligned at least somewhat with theirs again (even though it was still wildly out of sync because of the jetlag in those first days), Felix and Jisung clung to Hyunjin whenever they had the chance. If there had been any awkwardness left between Jisung and Hyunjin from their first meetings, it was completely gone and forgotten by then.

Despite the discomforts brought on by the jetlag, there were some aspects about it that Hyunjin didn’t actually mind that much; such as falling asleep at random times during the afternoon, which allowed him to travel to the parallel plane to see Seungmin, for example.

In the short time he’d been in America and met Seungmin regularly in their dreams, he’d become quite close with the other. They got along right from the start, Hyunjin being in awe with Seungmin’s healing powers and vast general knowledge, and Seungmin living to question Hyunjin about Korea, his birth country that he only knew from short visits with his family over the years. In addition, Hyunjin’s practical knowledge of the dream world gained through experience complemented Seungmin’s theoretical one from his conversations with the resident creatures, and both were eager to learn what the other could teach them. With so much to talk about, there was hardly a time for silence between them and their bond grew fast and strong; which made the prospect of separation through misaligning sleep-schedules a daunting one for both, and led Hyunjin to cling to the unhealthy sleep pattern brought on by the jetlag.

Hyunjin’s insatiable need to spend time not just with them but also Seungmin spurred Jisung and Felix’s desire to meet the other properly on, too, and they started planning how to make it happen so that they could all meet up at once. It wasn’t easy, what with three of them being busy in college and having nosy roommates, and the other living with a near unpredictable work schedule. And yet, they managed eventually.

With them having exchanged notes, Felix already having met Seungmin - even if only shortly and while feverish - and Hyunjin allowing himself to be his apparently naturally clingy self with him and Jisung simultaneously, there was no room for awkwardness even between Seungmin and Jisung when they met as a group of four eventually. They got along easily, Seungmin fitting right into their dynamics, and their time together felt way too short, seemingly only minutes having passed rather than the couple of hours by the time Seungmin’s alarm rang.

The remaining three huddled together in pensive, almost sad silence after Seungmin had to leave.

“How are we going to make this work…?” Jisung mused eventually, a heavy sigh falling past his lips as he let himself tip over to rest his head on Hyunjin’s lap. Absentmindedly, Hyunjin started running his fingers through his hair.

“If only I knew… I miss him already…” He sighed, too, and Felix wrapped his arms around him, pulling his back against his chest and hooking his chin over Hyunjin’s shoulder.

“He is a really great guy, isn’t he… If only it wasn’t so hard to align our sleep schedules.”

“I can’t ask hyung to let me off work earlier all the time. I mean, technically, I’m already working over-time practically every day, but… The company is in a critical phase right now and I can’t leave hyung hanging when he relies on me so much.” Jisung swallowed thickly. “But… don’t let that keep you from meeting up with Seungmin without me. Maybe I can-... Maybe I can try to catch some naps in the afternoon some days so I can see him, too, at least for a little bit…”

Reaching around Hyunjin, Felix took one of Jisung’s hands in his own in hopes of giving him some comfort.

“Surely your boss will be understanding if you do that, no? He seems like the type, at least from what you’ve told us about him… And I’m sure Seungmin would really appreciate your visits.”

Jisung gave Felix a grateful look, squeezing his hand in his own, and they lapsed into silence again.

“How would I know where to look for him, if I do manage to catch a nap, though?” Jisung interrupted it again after a while, though. “I can’t expect him to just hang out in the cave all day, just in case I might pop in for a few minutes.” 

“Maybe you could work out a set time for an afternoon break with your boss and let Seungmin know about the timeframe in a note, or something?” Hyunjin suggested, but Jisung shook his head, dejected.

“That’s the thing with my job: it’s impossible to work out a schedule that works for every day. Our meetings and schedules are all over the place all the time; we don’t even manage to grab lunch at the same time every day, never mind catch a break at a set time in the afternoon.” Jisung grouched, turning onto his back and glancing up at Hyunjin and Felix with a pout. “Guess I’ll just have to live with the fact that I’ll only ever be able to meet up with Seungmin every once in a blue moon…”

Felix clicked his tongue, pursing his lips in distaste.

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Sung. We’ll figure something out!” He stated in a promise, just before he tensed up. “I gotta go…” He declared, squeezing Hyunjin’s waist and Jisung’s hand just before he vanished. 

Jisung’s hand balled into a fist around the nothing that was left once Felix disappeared, and Hyunjin shuddered, too.

“I hate it when they just- go…” He whispered, and Jisung understood that feeling all too well.

“I hate it when you all do that. It’s always me who’s left alone here in the end. It sucks.”

Hyunjin nudged Jisung to sit up and wrapped his arms around him in a proper hug. “I’m sorry. I wish we all had the same sleep schedule, too.”

Jisung shrugged, about to reply something, when they were interrupted by a creature bursting into the clearing, stumbling over their own feet and landing in the grass just a few feet away from the pair. It scrambled to its feet quickly, and they could tell it was a young satyr. 

The moment the satyr spotted them, it rushed over the rest of the way, gesticulating wildly.

“Sirs, Sirs! You have to get up, get up, we have to run! Quick, quick!” It bleated in a childlike tone, hastily reaching for Jisung and Hyunjin’s hands and urging them up.

Despite not understanding the urgency, they complied, following the satyr.

“What’s going on?!” Jisung asked as they hurried through the underbrush, dodging roots and low-hanging branches.

“They’ll catch us and kill us!” The satyr cried, speeding up. Hyunjin and Jisung followed.

“Who? Who’s going to catch and kill us?” Hyunjin demanded, just as the satyr took a sharp left and started running down a slope that would lead to the river eventually.

“The mountain-folks!” The satyr bleated pitifully, speeding up.

“Mountain-folks? What mountain folks?” Jisung asked, but the satyr didn’t answer, instead tripping over a root and falling, tumbling head over heels down the slope.

Hyunjin and Jisung caught up quickly, Hyunjin helping the satyr up again. A deep gash split down its temple, oozing blood, and the small creature whimpered pitifully. Hyunjin wasted no time lifting them up and into his arms.

Without the sound of their crazed running and laboured breath, the forest appeared almost silent around them; a stark contrast to the usual constant cacophony of humms and chirps. It was eerie and sent uncomfortable shivers down Hyunjin and Jisung’s spines.

“Let’s get out of here and back to the cave.” Hyunjin suggested in a whisper, and Jisung agreed silently.

Without a further word exchanged, they started hurrying back to the cave. They made it about half the way there when suddenly a foul stench assaulted their noses.

“Holy shit, what  _ is _ this?!” Hyunjin gagged.

“The mountain-folks…” The satyr in Hyunjin’s arms whimpered, clinging to him with trembling arms. 

Jisung shifted closer to the two of them, his rather light attire morphing into an armour as his daggers manifested in their scabbards on his hips. Hyunjin followed his example, conjuring his own armour and sword and standing with his back to Jisung.

“Let’s keep going, but carefully.” Jisung suggested in a whisper, and Hyunjin agreed with a nod Jisung couldn’t see but knew to be there anyway. 

They inched forward, covering about half of the remaining distance to the cave, when suddenly a massive, burly creature broke out of the underbrush and blocked their way. It turned its head and fixed them with beady eyes, revealing a snout-like mouth smeared with glittery blue blood. 

“It’s them!” The satyr in Hyunjin’s eyes cried out, and the noise prompted the creature to charge.

Jisung and Hyunjin jumped out of the way, in opposite directions, and the beast charged past.

“What the hell? It’s attacking us, too?” Hyunjin gasped, twirling to face the creature again, one hand holding his sword, the other used to hold the injured satyr close. 

The exclamation was warranted; so far, none of the forest’s creatures had ever dared attack them. Even the most vicious and feared ones among them, the werewolves and forest-orcs, snake-dragons and river-monsters, respected them and left them alone. Yet here they were, facing a stark-white orc-like creature that clearly had no qualms whatsoever attacking them.

“Watch out, Sung!” Hyunjin shouted as the creature charged, and Jisung dodged again. And still, one of the creature’s tusks almost caught him. Jisung was pissed.

“Hey! Watch out, you oaf! Are you sure you want to take it up with us?!”

The creature didn’t respond, twirling around with surprising agility for its size and charged again; not as quickly, and more focussed this time. There would be no way for Jisung to just dodge, and he decided to take it on instead. This world gave him agility, strength and skills he lacked in the awake-world, after all, and that should allow him to engage the creature that was at least four times his size at least as equals.

Jisung parried the blow of the short but heavy sword the creature carried easily, deflecting and landing a blow of his own across the creature’s forearm.

“Back off while I’m still playing nice!” Jisung growled after the creature howled, but clearly it didn’t care, since it attacked again.

Jisung parried, dodged and counter-attacked, landing blow after blow that only seemed to aggravate and entice the mountain-orc further.

“I don’t want to kill you, but if you give me no other choice, I fucking will! Back! Off!” Jisung punctuated each of the last two words with a kick to the orc’s face, flipping over and landing safely back on the ground as it stumbled back.

The orc shook its head, narrowing its eyes at Jisung once more.

“Sung, either end it or lets make a run for it while we still can…!” Hyunjin suggested nervously from the side. Jisung shook his head, though.

“You go ahead and get the satyr to safety, I’ll catch up later!”

“Oh like hell will I do that! Don’t be dumb, Sung-” Hyunjin cut himself off as the orc turned to zero its gaze in on him. “Oh, shit.” He mumbled, readying himself to fight, one-handed, as the orc started charging at him.

“Yeah, I think the  _ fuck _ not!” Jisung exclaimed, intercepting the orc mid-run and jamming both of his daggers into one of it’s knees. The orc howled and crashed to the ground, rolling over itself and kicking Jisung in the head in the process. Jisung was knocked back, landing sprawled out on the forest floor, unmoving.

“Jisung!!” Hyunjin’s panicked cry cut violently through the forest, but he couldn’t even run over to check on the younger because the orc was getting back on its feet, tearing out the daggers and preparing to stumble over to Jisung; most likely to make sure he finished him off.

“Don’t you fucking  _ dare!” _ Hyunjin growled, setting the satyr down blindly and starting after the orc. The world around him became a red-tinted blur along the edges as all of his focus centered on the vicious creature. 

Instinctively, he knew where to strike to hit its most vulnerable spots, and the first blow he landed across both of the backs of its knees was a success. The orc’s knees gave in, and it couldn’t get back on its feet. And yet, it kept advancing, brandishing its sword and rearing its tusk-armed head. It wasn’t over yet, it wouldn’t back down, that much was clear to Hyunjin, and he attacked again. 

A slash down its side, stab through the shoulder and deep cut across its chest eventually brought the creature down, though. It’s breathing came in laboured, wet breaths as it lay otherwise unmoving on the forest ground, and yet Hyunjin didn’t dare leave it out of his sight just yet. 

“Holy shit, did someone hit me with a hammer?” A whine sounded from behind Hyunjin, eventually, and looking over his shoulder he found Jisung sitting up, rubbing his head.

“Jisung!” Hyunjin cried in relief, flying to his side and wrapping the younger in a hug. “You are ok. Oh god, you are ok…! I thought-”

“Hyunjin, ouch, wait-...” Jisung winced as Hyunjin jostled him a little too much for comfort, then sagged into his arms. “Oh, come on, I’m not that easy to finish off. But you- did you kill it?”

Hyunjin shook his head, finally letting go of Jisung.

“No. But it shouldn’t be getting up to battle too soon. Let’s get out of here before it gathers its strength again, though.” He stood, holding his hand out to help Jisung back up, too. 

“Where’s the satyr?” Jisung asked as soon as he was back on his feet, looking around, and took a stumbling step to where Hyunjin had stood before. Hyunjin caught him before he could fall, but Jisung brushed him off gently. “I got this, I’m fine. Find the little one.”

Hyunjin eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then decided to trust Jisung’s judgement and went to find the satyr. Thankfully, they were still in the spot Hyunjin had set them down in, and he quickly gathered them back up.

“He’s not dead yet.” A new voice spoke up suddenly, and Hyunjin twirled around to find himself face-to-face with one of the giant wolves of the forest. He relaxed a little, but just a little. While the wolves had never been aggressive with him and the others, he never knew if or when they’d change their minds, and after the orc’s attack he was extra careful.

“No.” He confirmed, wary. “My goal was not to kill it, just to protect myself and my friend.”

The wolf growled, the sound derisive.

“You should have killed it. They don’t belong down here; they bring nothing but trouble to our lands. If one makes it back to their den from down here, it’ll make sure to bring their whole clan the next time, and then it’s not going to be pretty for any of us.”

Hyunjin frowned, just as Jisung joined his side.

“We’re not here to decide who gets to live and who doesn’t. We do want to maintain peace in the forest, though, and not start a war.” He declared. “But we also won’t lie down and let ourselves be slaughtered when attacked. By no one.”

The wolf gave the wolf-equivalent to a shrug. “No one would have cared if you killed it. Including its cousins from down here.”

“We’re not killing it.” Hyunjin decided. “But we also won’t keep you from doing so, if you choose to. We have our own matters to attend.” 

The wolf inclined its head, sitting back on its haunches, waiting, and Hyunjin and Jisung left with the satyr. They were quite a ways away already, when they heard the growls of several wolves and the sounds of a last struggle from the mountain orc before it fell silent again.

“Do you reckon they finished it off?” Jisung asked quietly, and Hyunjin nodded. Jisung swallowed thickly.

“We should go talk to the other orcs tomorrow, see where they stand in regards to the mountain-orcs, and confirm if what the wolf said is true.”

In Hyunjin’s arms, the satyr lifted it’s head, looking up at Jisung.

“It’s true. The mountain-folks are feared and hated by everyone. They only bring death, pain and destruction.”

Jisung sighed quietly. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but we do have to make sure. The other orcs might have alliances or truces with them that we don’t know of, and we don’t want to jeopardize those.”

The satyr settled down again, until Hyunjin addressed them, just as they arrived at the bottom of the cliff.

“When you came running to us earlier, were you fleeing from that one of those mountain-folks, or were there more?”

The satyr shuddered but answered. “Just the one. But, you never know…”

Hyunjin nodded slowly. “Right. There could have been more. And we don’t have enough time to find out right now. We’ll have to warn Seungmin. And Felix. Jisung, you- Oh, no…”

Jisung turned just in time to see Hyunjin flicker and quickly took the satyr out of his arms. 

“I got it. Have a good day, Jinnie. See you tonight.”

Hyunjin nodded, but before he could reply, he vanished. Jisung sighed, turning to the satyr.

“Let’s go up. You’re hurt, and I can’t do much, but you can wait in the cave where you’ll be safe until Seungmin comes. He can help you, and in turn, you can tell him what happened and warn him of the mountain-folks.”

Despite his words, Jisung still took the time cleaning the satyr’s wound to the best of his abilities. After that, he decided to take the time to write notes for Felix and Seungmin, too, though. He didn’t want to take chances; what if the satyr ran off eventually for some reason? And Seungmin and Felix didn’t get warned? No, that couldn’t happen. He had to make sure they knew of the mountain-folks, of the possibility of more of those orcs roaming the forest. And also about them incapacitating one of them, which had led to the wolves killing it, as well as their need to meet the forest-orcs to check where they stood. 

Jisung set the pencil down with a sigh, staring at the long note. Even with all those warnings, what was Seungmin supposed to do, on his own? Just stay in the cave the whole time? If only Felix could come earlier… He probably would, if he knew he had to, but… But how could he let Felix know in time? 

It was simple: he couldn’t. The only way he had to contact him was through notes pinned on the cave’s pillars and walls, and it would take a whole day for him to get them. That, and if Seungmin had any input on what they should be discussing with the orcs, he could only let them know through notes, too. And their reply would take another whole day to reach him. Discussions would take weeks like this, and that was just impractical. They needed to find a different way.

The obvious way would be to exchange phone numbers and text each other in the awake-world, but… Jisung felt awkward just thinking about it.

***

He still felt awkward about that long after waking up and starting work the next day.

“Earth to Jisung! Anyone home? Hello~!” 

Jisung jumped a little in his chair as Younghyun called him, clearly not for the first time. 

“W-what? Yes, Hi- Uh…!” He stammered, sitting up in his desk chair a little too quickly. He would have rolled back indefinitely if Younghyun didn’t reach across the desk and caught the arm of the chair to keep him in place.

“Sleeping with your eyes open, Sungie?” He teased, good-naturedly, and Jisung blushed.

“I’m sorry, hyung…” Apologizing was the only thing he could do.

Younghyun hummed, ruffling his hair lightly, not even enough to dishevel it, showing him he wasn’t upset with him. A slight frown appeared on his face as he took in Jisung’s appearance, though.

“You went home early last night, but still it looks like you slept even less than usual… You’re not getting enough rest, are you?”

Jisung paled, shaking his head. “N-no, hyung, it’s ok! I slept a lot, just- Nightmare? Kinda? And woke up with a headache, but I took some painkillers and am all good now. I’m sorry, I’ll be focusing now! What did you need?” He tried changing the subject.

Younghyun sighed, sitting down at the edge of the desk but going along with the subject change.

“Nothing in particular. Just wondering if that French investor ever wrote back.”

“Oh-... No. No, they didn’t. At least not until, uh, until just before I spaced out. Sorry. Hold on; I’ll check.”

Jisung quickly turned to his computer, checking the emails, but shook his head in confirmation.

“No… No, no reply just yet.”

Younghyun sighed, and nodded, turning back to his phone. In the ensuing silence, Jisung found his thoughts drift off again, wondering if he and the other three from his dreams would ever be like that, able to just text each other, whenever they wanted, during the day. And if it really would be as awkward as he found it would be now.

“Hyung… Have you ever dreamt about someone you never met before?”

The words were out of Jisung’s mouth before he could process them, and he was ready to take them back immediately, but Younghyun nodded slowly, smiling at his phone before he lowered it.

“Yes… Yes, I have.” He replied, smile still playing around his lips.

“Oh?! Really?” Jisung couldn’t believe it, forgetting how inappropriate the question might have been in his excitement. Younghyun nodded again.

“Yeah. I used to dream about a man I’d never seen before, almost every night, until I ran into him randomly one day.”

Jisung’s jaw dropped and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

“Oh god…! And then? What happened then?!”

Younghyun’s smile grew, turning into an amused smirk.

“And then I ran away like a scared chicken, because how do you even tell a person you have been dreaming about them before ever meeting them? How do you act around someone you meet for the first time but feel like you have known for ages? I was  _ not _ ready. Worst experience of my life!” Younghyun laughed, but Jisung deflated in his seat, dejection taking hold of him. For a moment there, he had felt hope blooming up inside him that Younghyun could give him some solid advice on how to deal with this, but it dissolved into nothing in the span of a few seconds. 

In his dejection, he didn’t see Younghyun biting back a smile as he quickly typed out a message to the contact saved as “Babe” in his phone. 

Both him and Younghyun were startled out of their own little worlds when the desk-phone between them rang all of a sudden, and Jisung hurried to take the call. His jaw nearly dropped when a french voice answered him, and after a few exchanged words he extended the receiver to Younghyun, mouthing “The French investor!” at him. Younghyun took the receiver out of Jisung’s hand quickly, dropping his personal phone to the desk in his haste. As the phone clattered onto the mahogany surface, the screen lit up with an incoming text message from the contact named Babe. Before Jisung could look away and without intending to, he still caught the preview of the message: “I’m just as frustrated, but you know we can’t interfe…” 

Jisung looked away quickly. He might know a lot about Younghyun’s private life already, but that didn’t mean he was interested in reading his boss’ personal texts with his boyfriend.

The call Younghyun was on didn’t last long, and he hung up pretty soon, silence descending between them.

“It looks like we’re going to be travelling…” Younghyun announced after a moment.

Jisung sat up straight, eyes wide and all thoughts about his dreams and the boys he met in them forgotten for the time being.

“What?!”

Younghyun nodded slowly.

“We’re going to France. They want to partner up with us. We’ll meet them personally, and work out the details of a partnership there.”

Jisung gaped at Younghyun, who smiled at him; this was a big,  _ big _ step forward for the company, and he couldn’t help the excitement and happiness as he jumped up to hug Younghyun across the desk. Younghyun laughed, hugging Jisung back tightly.

In the middle of his excitement, Jisung suddenly remembered-... Timezones. He’d have to figure them out all over again, when he would be able to sleep and if he’d be able to meet up with the other three boys when he did.

Younghyun noticed him tensing up, and pulled out of the hug, allowing Jisung to sit back as he eyed him with a worried look.

“Everything ok?” He made sure to ask, and Jisung caught himself, nodding sharply.

“Yes! Yes. Just remembered… Timezones. Jetlag always messes me up really bad.”

“Ah…” Younghyun nodded in understanding. “Yeah. Jetlag is the worst. And timezones are a mess, especially when you have to coordinate events that happen in multiple different ones. We should make sure we have our meetings and other schedules here and in France coordinated and figured out before we leave so we don’t miss anything important. I’ll leave that in your capable hands, Jisungie!” He hopped off the desk with a wink, retreating to his office, and Jisung nodded.

Yes, he could do that. And if he didn’t just work out the difference between Malaysia and France, but added Sydney, Los Angeles and Seoul to a second time-map, too, that was his business alone.


	4. Threat and Answer

Seungmin wound through the forest with purpose, Jisung’s note replaying in his mind. He understood the urgency at a glance, and while he also understood Jisung’s caution and wish to discuss how to proceed from here regarding inquiring where the forest, ground and grasslands orcs stood when it came to the mountain orcs, Seungmin didn’t believe that much caution to be necessary. He was on good terms with the orc kinds living in their domain, and while he wasn’t the biggest fan of their species - mainly because of their smell, which was truly nauseating to him - he didn’t regard them as any less deserving of his help and respect as any other. And in turn, they had never shown him anything but respect, rather even reverence at some points. So, why waste time with lengthy discussions if he could just go and ask them what needed to be asked directly?

It was quite the trek to reach the outskirts of the forest, which the orcs claimed as their home, but the daily training of the past few months gave Seungmin a remarkable endurance and speed and he made it to his destination relatively quickly. As soon as he found the first of the forest orcs, he only had to ask to be brought before the head of the clan. He was welcomed warmly, and immediately asked for help as well. Being the kind-hearted being dedicated to helping and healing that he was, Seungmin couldn’t say no. He figured his helping them could help him in turn eventually, though, just in case they were friendly with the mountain orcs and didn’t take kindly to their distant relative being served on a platter for the wolves to kill the day before. 

In the end, his worries were unwarranted, though.

“We have treaties and alliances with the earth clans, and the clans from the grasslands, but not with those from the mountains.” The clan head informed Seungmin, not unkindly so but with a certain finality to her words. “The clans from the mountains are not to be trusted. They see themselves as superior to all other beings and won’t abide by any treaties. They break alliances as they see fit with each other, too, but they don’t even see us as worthy of making alliances with in the first place.”

Seungmin exhaled with tentative relief.

“You must have heard by now what happened yesterday, with the clan member from the mountains that attacked my friends.”

An agitated murmur went through the rows of orcs listening in on Seungmin and the clan head’s conversation.

“We have. And we want you to know we do not condone what happened!”

Seungmin’s heart nearly stopped, definitely slipping out of the bottom of his ribcage and dropping to somewhere near his ankle.

“We would never dare attack you or your friends!” The clan head eventually spoke over the agitated voices. “What that clan member from the mountains did was unforgivable! They deserved the fate they met!” 

Loud clamor of agreement followed her words, and Seungmin’s rapidly beating heart tentatively started to climb back up to its original spot.

“Actually, we owe your friends for ridding us of the menace before they could cause much damage to our clans and the rest of the forest.” Another orc spoke up, and Seungmin thought he recognized the partner of the clan head in her. “The clans from the mountains are much stronger than we are, and they like to take our members as slaves. A single one of them could have easily captured, subdued and dragged off up to five of us.”

The agitated murmurs started again, and somewhere the scared crying of a child started. Seungmin winced in discomfort at the thought of anyone falling victim to a creature that scared even these fierce folks.

“So, if I am getting this right, you won’t be upset if we continued to fight off the clan members from the mountains, right? Not even if we ended up being their cause of death?”

“In fact, we’d be much obliged if you just killed them right away, as soon as possible, whenever you spotted one.”

***

After the meeting with the clan head of the forest orcs, Seungmin felt lighter when he sought out the ground orcs. They were less fierce to begin with, barely a head taller than him on average, and even though mud and dirt clung to them at all times, they didn’t reek quite as much as their cousins from the forest clans. 

“Aye, kill ‘em filthy bastards off for all A care!” was the first thing Seungmin got in response to mentioning the mountain orcs to the clan head of the ground orcs. A choir of hollers and chants that might be war cries followed the clan head’s words, further confirming that the rest of the clan seemed to be pretty on board with their leader. “‘Em mount’n clans don’ be good for nuthin’! Stickin’ a in them’s mines to dig for metals and useless shite… A might like them dirt, but none a a do be likin’ to dig in it for jus’ sum piece a metals. Roots!” The clan head shoved her hand forwards so fast in Seungmin’s direction she nearly punched him square in the face with her fist full of… roots. “Roots be where it’s at! And dens, for a young’uns. But the dirt do be soft down here. Not like them rock shite up in the mount’ns. Nah, don’ be lettin’ them mount’n clans roam our lands, wee Sire. None a a do be wantin’ to fall in them’s mount’n clans’ ugly pale hands.”

...And that was that as far as diplomatic ties between the ground and mountain orcs went.

Both the ground and forest clan heads assured Seungmin that the grassland clans thought very much the same way as them, but knowing them to be the fickle creatures they were, Seungmin set out to find them anyway. It wouldn’t be easy, since even though they called the wide plains of the grasslands their home, and despite being rather tall, hulking figures, they understood it to go undetected in the vast open space like no other. Truthfully, the easiest way to find them was not by looking out for them, but to where the gigantic winged horses tended to flock.

Apparently, it was Seungmin’s lucky day, however, as he didn’t even have to make it all the way out of the forest before he stumbled across one of the elusive grassland orcs. As soon as he recognized the tall, strong yet lithe figure in front of him, he bowed deeply.

“Healer, I greet you” He greeted respectfully, and the orc inclined her head as well, the beads in her high, pale ponytail clinking melodically as she did.

“I greet you as well, Small but Great Healer. What brings you to this side of the woods?”

Seungmin straightened his posture, meeting the healer’s gaze once he’d been recognized.

“I have come to speak to your clan about the recent sighting of members of the mountain clans in the forest.”

The healer’s gaze darkened and she bared her fang-like teeth.

“We have nothing to do with the scum from the mountains!” She spat venomously, and Seungmin raised his hands in a placating gesture.

“It was never my intention to suggest you did!” He was quick to reassure. “I have merely come to confirm personally that our fighting and defeating the mountain clans when they venture down here does not infringe any treaties that could possibly exist between the clans.”

“We don’t make treaties with the vermin from the mountains. Dispose of them as you see fit, it shall not be of any concern to us.”

Seungmin suppressed a shudder at her cold tone, her eyes burning with green fire as they bore into him.

“Very well. My question was merely out of respect for your culture and possible ties among the clans, as I had been ignorant about the mountain clans until this morning. I would rather ask one time too many than to offend you inadvertently and start a war by killing the wrong clan member.” Seungmin explained, his voice polite yet slightly clipped around the edges. “Since there seems to be no love lost between the clans from down here and the mountains, we shall proceed to try to keep them away from the forest and plains to the best of our abilities should we cross them. Healer, I wish you a good day.” He bowed once more, ready to leave.

He’d barely taken a handful of steps when the orc healer called him back, though.

“Small but Great Healer…!”

Seungmin stopped in his tracks, turning to face her with a questioning look.

“The vermin your friends killed earlier… They attacked our family in spirit, the Pegasus. Two were slain and a third badly wounded. That last one… She wandered into these woods, to either find you or the wolves to end her suffering.” The healer’s tone became gentle, almost, as she talked about the winged horse. “Her wounds are beyond what I can help her with, but you might be able to. She is wise, courageous and strong beyond her years. Find and help her, and she is likely to become an ally for life to you.”

Seungmin’s breath caught in his throat, worry for the wounded creature springing to the forefront of his mind. Once again he nodded in understanding, before bidding his farewell and letting his feet decide which path to take as he went back into the forest. His instincts would know where his help was needed.

He thought he was prepared for anything, from finding the pegasus already dead, to badly wounded, to having to defend her. What he didn’t think he'd have to defend her from, however, was a mountain orc. 

He heard the commotion first, and approached quickly but carefully. The Healer had told him the winged horse had come to the forest to either die or get healed, and yet, it seemed the horse had very specific ideas about who should be the harbinger of her death; and clearly, a mountain orc wasn’t it. Blue, glittery blood covered her flanks, and yet she kept rising on her hind legs, thrashing at the hulking white figure with her front hooves. It was a hopeless fight, all she managed to do was delay her fate by keeping the orc at a distance for the time being and exhausting herself until she would have to surrender. And yet, as if some sort of higher power had wanted it, she had managed to hold out just long enough for Seungmin to arrive and take over. 

Thankfully, with the orc being distracted by the pegasus, it didn’t notice Seungmin’s arrival, and so Seungmin kept the element of surprise on his side. Silently, he conjured his bow and quiver, and with practiced movements set the first arrow on the string, pulled, and let go. The sharp arrow head buried itself deep into the orc’s shoulder, landing with precision in a gap of the crude armour.

With a howling roar, the orc turned, staring right at where it thought the arrow to have come from, and started to charge. There was no running away for Seungmin, he was smarter than that. Instead of running and setting the orc on his trail, he fled upwards, hiding in the dense canopy of the trees. The orc remained none the wiser, searching the bushes that no doubt still held Seungmin’s smell; not once did it think to look up, though. 

Out of the orc’s view, Seungmin moved from one tree to the next, rounding it, before setting a new arrow to his bow and aiming it at another crack in its armour. It hit its target perfectly, cutting sinew and muscle and incapacitating one of the orc’s arms. Again, the creature roared, charging at where it thought the arrow to have come from. Only, it searched on the ground, while Seungmin once again moved through the canopy and let loose another arrow, this time wounding the orc’s leg. 

The dance went like that for a while, Seungmin moving around high up in the trees, letting loose arrow after arrow and weakening the orc until it lacked the strength to chase after him. 

Seungmin paused when the orc collapsed on the ground, barely mustering the strength for a roar as Seungmin’s latest arrow pierced its side. Despite the aggressive nature of the orc and the fact it was hated and feared - and rightly so - by as far as he knew all the creatures of the forest, Seungmin felt pity for it. He was a healer, after all. Hurting others, no matter who, went against his nature. And yet, he couldn’t let the orc live, not if he wanted the forest and its creatures to live on in peace. He had to kill it, but… How? He could wound it, and maybe it would die eventually. But it would be an agonizing, slow death, and that didn’t sit well with Seungmin. He wasn’t a close-range fighter, though, and he was pretty sure if he went near the orc to finish it off, the creature would still be able to muster enough strength to defend itself and possibly kill or at least severely wound Seungmin; and he was not here for that. So, what could he do?

Thoughtfully, he crept along the trees until he reached a spot where he had a prime shot at the orc’s throat. His arrows were small compared to the orc’s neck, though, and he didn’t know its anatomy well enough to be confident about where to shoot to kill it as quickly as possible. If only his arrows were larger, or could do more damage!

Seungmin wanted to smack himself in the head for his stupidity when the answer to his struggles popped up in his mind. Of course! He was so stupid!

Magic. He could use magic. His might be healing magic, but if he formed it, infused it, and applied it right…

He focussed on the head of the next arrow he set on his bow, channeling his magic and bundling it along the cutting edges of the arrow head - and let go. The arrow sailed through the air just like any other, looking wobbly in its trajectory, and yet, it found its target as infallibly as always, piercing the orc’s throat. 

Seungmin flinched at the effect it had, though, averting his gaze from the spot and only hearing how the orc hit the ground, unable even to produce a last sound since his throat had been completely ripped out of its neck. Carefully, Seungmin peeked between his fingers at where the orc lay, and he felt weak, his knees trembling. Before he could fall out of the trees, he jumped to the ground, and emptied his stomach on the spot. He couldn’t believe he had actually done it, killed someone. Even if it was not a person. Still, it had been a sentient creature.

Seungmin heaved again, but only bile rose in his throat. He had to leave here, had to-... Maybe go back to the cave. Maybe wait for Felix to arrive, and give him a hug. He really needed a hug. Or maybe he’d even be able to wake up, and he could go and find Minho for a hug. Still, he preferred Felix, though. At least Felix would understand...

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he suddenly felt a nudge to his back, though. Whirling around, he already had a new arrow set on the string of his bow, pointing at his attacker before he even saw what it was. As soon as he did, however, all fight left him again. 

“It’s you…” He exhaled in relief, lowering his bow and returning the arrow to his quiver. “When did you get here?”

The winged horse gave him a blank look, only a sliver of pain clouding it, and didn’t respond.

“Right. You were here first.” Seungmin conceded. “And you’re hurt. You came to find me for help?”

The pegasus nudged him again, and Seungmin swallowed thickly.

“Sorry. Of course. I’ll get right to it!”

Maybe that was what he actually needed, more even than a hug: a distraction, and a reminder of why he had to do what he’d done. 

His magic prickled in his fingertips, eager to be shaped and released to do what it did best, and Seungmin settled them lightly over the first set of wounds carved into the winged horse’s back. 

It took him quite a while to finish healing all of the wounds the pegasus had sustained, and by the end of it he felt truly exhausted for the first time since discovering his new powers in this world. Not so much physically, either, or power-wise, but mostly mentally.

“There you go, all done. You should be careful for a few days so you don’t aggravate the soreness, but you’re fine now.” He finished, conjuring a rag to wipe the sticky, blue blood off his hands.

The pegasus turned, facing him, and inclined her head. Now, this gesture wasn’t strange to Seungmin, even though he hadn’t had direct contact with the pegasus before, but… He couldn’t say any creature had ever gone so far as to press their entire head against his chest during their bow.

“I- w-what… Uh…” Seungmin stuttered, mostly confused but also a little scared. The winged horse was significantly taller than him, and its head was the size of his entire torso. It was a creature that could carry a fully grown grasslands orc, after all, and one he’d seen successfully fight off a mountain orc before. What did it mean if it came to him to press its head against him?

“I owe you my life, therefore it is in your hands now.” A melodious voice answered him, and he understood it came from the pegasus.

“I… I am honoured you would trust me with something so valuable, but your life belongs to you and you only.” 

Seungmin had been offered life-debts before, but he was the most hesitant about rejecting this one, out of fear of offending the winged mare. Just his luck, it seemed that was exactly what he had managed to do.

“I would not have a life to call my own if it weren’t for you. My second chance at a life would be meaningless if you don’t let me repay my debt. To do so, let me serve you.” The mare insisted, her tone slightly irritated.

“I am not accepting servitude from anyone.” Seungmin remained as stubborn as the mare, however. “I would be a horrible person if I only gave you another chance at life to then take it away from you by asking you to waste it on me.”

The pegasus looked up, a bewildered look in her eyes. She had not been expecting such an answer.

“I won’t accept you serving me blindly. I might ask for your help occasionally if you insist on repaying me, but you are always free to reject me.” Seungmin acquiesced eventually, wary of insulting the pegasus by rejecting her need to repay him altogether. “The best way to thank me for my help is by living your life to the fullest, though.”

The pegasus averted her gaze, but it looked in no way ashamed. Her gaze was fiery, defiant, instead.

“You are going to fight the mountain clans, aren’t you. I want to help you fight them. I want to lend you my wings and my hooves in the fight against them. I can be of great help to you, and I need your help to avenge the death of my foal and sister.”

Ah, so it was personal, Seungmin understood. 

“In that case…” He started, pensive. “I am not completely sure how we are going to proceed, but I am fairly positive we won’t let the mountain clans roam the forests unhindered. If I could call for you when I need your help against them-...”

“Starfall.” The mare interrupted Seungmin.

“What?”

“Starfall, is my name. Call for it when you are in need of my help. I will come.”

***

Felix and Hyunjin had waited patiently for Jisung to arrive before setting out of the cave. The note Seungmin had left worried them, since none of them welcomed the idea of randomly running into another mountain orc on their own in the forest. Seungmin had been lucky he’d managed to take the one he’d run into down on his own, but he was a long distance fighter. That had definitely helped. That, and his wits, as well as his discovery about how he could use his magic to enhance his weapon. 

Now, the other three were on the way to their usual training spot to see if they could do the same to their own weapons.

“I don’t think this is a good idea. My emotions aren’t stable enough, I’m going to mess it up for everyone.” Jisung complained for the nth time. 

“You won’t, Sung.” Also for the nth time, Felix reassured him. “You’ll do well. Trust me.”

Jisung did trust Felix, but he didn’t trust his own emotions. Nor the ones of those around him.

“I messed up yesterday because I couldn’t control my emotions. I let the orc’s rage affect me and put myself, Jinnie and the satyr in danger!” 

“You didn’t.” Hyunjin was quick to protest. “You aren’t used to fighting orcs, and you did really well. Without your help, I’d never have been able to bring that orc down. It wasn’t your fault it knocked you out.”

“But-”

“Listen to Jinnie, Sung. He was there.” Felix interrupted Jisung gently, putting an arm around his shoulders as they walked. “It’s not your fault. But you need to train, just like we do, for future encounters. You need to learn to use your weapons, your body, and your powers as well to fight the mountain orcs.”

“Lix, I can’t-”

“You can, Sungie. You can, and you really, really should. Your powers are a gift, you need to learn to control them. Not suppress your emotions, but learn to use your emotions and your power over them and those of the ones around you.”

Jisung shook his head again, though. “No!” He stated with finality. “I’m not going to use that!”

Next to him, Hyunjin and Felix sighed.

“Sungie, I’m sorry, but what I said back then was really stupid. Nothing good will come out of you ignoring your powers and suppressing your emotions. It will only make you more vulnerable if you need them…!”

Jisung shot a glare at Hyunjin. 

“You are one to talk! Does that mean you’ll finally accept that your powers are those of a warrior and that you are essentially a killing machine?!” He seethed, rage flaring up in him and becoming physically tangible to those around him. Hyunjin was swept up in it in a heartbeat, glaring back at Jisung.

“At least I’m learning to control my powers instead of trying to hide away from them like a coward!”

“I’m the coward?! At least I still fucking fight anyway when we are attacked instead of hiding behind others because I’m too fucking scared of my powers to use them!” Jisung shot back, his anger mounting in a heartbeat as well.

The two exchanged a heated glare, ready to charge at each other, when a strong gust of wind knocked both of them on their asses.

“Guys! Have you gone mad?!” Felix stood between them suddenly, palms extended outwards to both of them. “Swords? Daggers? Really?!”

Sheepishly, Jisung and Hyunjin looked at their hands, indeed holding their weapons.

“We can’t hurt each other here, anyway…” Hyunjin was the first to speak up, lips set in a spectacular pout. Felix narrowed his eyes at him.

“It’s the intention that counts! What if this world’s protection suddenly fails and you end up running a sword through someone anyway?!” Silence answered him. “You don’t pull a weapon on someone you don’t intend to hurt. And, both of you!” Felix glared at Hyunjin and Jisung in turn. “Both of you need to work on your anger management!”

Jisung and Hyunjin both averted their gazes, contrite, and all fight left Felix.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you, either.” He apologized quietly, but his tone remained insistent. “You scared me, though. Sungie, you can’t keep ignoring your powers, you  _ have  _ to learn to control them. Not repress your emotions, but learn how they affect and work with your powers. And Jinnie... You can’t let Sung’s slip-ups affect you this much. You need to learn to tell apart which are your own emotions and which Jisung’s, and focus on your own, not his.”

As he talked, he helped Jisung and Hyunjin back to their feet, dusting leaves off their clothes as he did.

“Things are getting serious, we’re not just here to play anymore. We’re going to need to fight to defend ourselves, each other and the creatures of the forest that rely on us. You two need to stop being in denial of your powers and learn to deal with them. Ignoring them will only bring more harm than learning to use them when it’s right. Even if you don’t end up using them in a fight, at least learn to control them so they don’t do any unnecessary harm, even if on accident.”

By the time Felix finished, Jisung looked close to tears, and Felix went to hug him. Instantly, Jisung buried his face against Felix’s shoulder, clinging to him. Felix felt the wave of sadness and guilt roll over him, but he understood they were Jisung’s feelings, not his own; even if he felt both emotions coming from himself as well. 

“I’m sorry…” Jisung whispered against Felix’s shoulder, barely audible. “I didn’t mean to. I’m just… I’m scared, Lix. I don’t want to hurt everything around me with my emotions…”

Felix sighed, rubbing Jisung’s back comfortingly. “I know, Sung. But that’s exactly why you need to learn to control your powers, so your emotions don’t keep affecting them and those around you, and vice versa.”

A shadow approached them from the side suddenly, and then they were both engulfed by another set of arms.

“I’m sorry, too.” Hyunjin mumbled. “And I want hugs, too.”

Felix chuckled, adjusting his position so that he could hug Hyunjin back as well. 

“You two are entirely too soft to keep fighting each other like this…” He mumbled, squeezing both boys tighter before letting go. “We don’t have time to waste, though. We have to practice our powers. Let’s go!”

Reluctantly, Jisung and Hyunjin let go, too, and Felix led the way to the clearing by the river that they used to practice.

Infusing their weapons with magic wasn’t as easy as Seungmin had made it sound in his note, and they struggled quite a bit. Eventually, only Hyunjin managed to sharpen his sword a little more than it already was, while Felix’s throw stars remained just the same as always and Jisung’s daggers did no more damage than usual.

“We need Minnie to teach us…” Jisung panted eventually, flopping down on the grass next to the pile of sticks he’d been attacking with his daggers. “I’ll never get it on my own. What am I even supposed to pour into these things?” 

Frustrated, he threw his dagger at the pile of sticks, fully intent on embedding it to the hilt in a larger branch that stuck out from it and throwing it with perhaps a little more force than necessary. To everyone’s surprise, the branch quite literally exploded.

Jisung was back to his feet in a flash, Hyunjin and Felix frozen a little further away.

“W-what the-”

“Wow… How did you-...?”

Jisung stumbled a few steps forward, and the spell rooting Hyunjin and Felix in place fell, prompting them to follow Jisung to inspect the wooden splinters that had once been a dead tree branch.

“I don’t know… I just-...” Jisung raised his shoulders, almost as if he wanted to hide between them. “I was just frustrated and wanted my dagger to split the wood, to vent some of that frustration…” He trailed off, eyes growing wide.

“Oh, no…”

“Oh yes!” Felix interrupted him, clapping a hand on Jisung’s shoulder before pulling him into a quick but tight hug. “You did it! You figured out how to enhance your weapons!”

Jisung shook his head. “B-but-... I can’t-... I don’t know what I did…”

“You used your frustration to fuel your intent. You are an empath, Sung, your emotions are your power. You allowed your frustration to carry weight in your dagger. I’m sure you can do the same with about every other emotion, as long as it matches your intent!”

Jisung looked at Felix as if he’d grown a second head.

“I don’t think I understand…”

“I mean, hmm…” Felix hummed, tapping his chin in thought. “Imagine you’re angry, that one is easy. You are angry at something because it’s harassing me or Jinnie.”

Jisung’s expression darkened as he imagined it.

“Like, imagine that trunk over there is actually a mean-spirited snake dragon that’s been stalking Jinnie for days now, and it’s managed to bite him a few times already and won’t leave him alone.” Felix started, getting into his little imagine as he spoke. “And to top it off, it’s too quick and agile for us to ever land a hit on it. Imagine Jinnie is seriously hurt by now and you have to protect him. Now, feel the anger at the audacity of the snake to keep harassing Jinnie, feel your frustration over not being able to fend it off, feel the fear of it doing any lasting damage to Jinnie, feel your love for Jinnie and your desire to keep him safe… Feel all of that, allow all of those emotions, and then… Strike!”

Jisung let Felix’s voice guide him, let himself imagine the scenario he described. Felix had a way of talking that made him see the images he described in his mind, made them seem real, and soon Jisung  _ felt.  _ He felt what Felix wanted him to feel, and it boiled hot in his gut, soon spreading throughout the rest of his body, too. He wanted to clamp down on the feeling, but then came the reminder to allow himself to feel, and he did. And then, he struck.

The dagger, not too big but also not too small, and yet still too small to normally do much damage to the tree trunk he’d been picturing as the snake dragon, sliced through the wood, sending splinters flying everywhere. 

Jisung stumbled back in shock, and Felix caught him before he could fall. When he caught his footing and looked at the piece of wood, his eyes widened: a quite sizeable hole had been ripped into the wood, far bigger than any cut with a dagger should be.

Jisung gasped, equal parts amazed, elated and terrified.

“Whoa…! That- Did I-...?”

“Hell yeah!” Hyunjin laughed, coming over to hug Jisung quickly. “You did it! You’ve figured it out!”

Jisung garbled something incomprehensible in Hyunjin’s hug, before Hyunjin let him go (and breathe) again.

“Why did I have to be the damsel in distress, though?!” He glared at Felix, who merely shrugged.

“I wasn’t going to make myself the damsel, that would have just been weird.” 

“Why couldn’t Seungminie be the damsel? Sungie is more whipped for him than me anyways!” Hyunjin still complained.

“Because Minnie would have either convinced the snake dragon to come have tea with him peacefully or obliterated it himself before it ever got that far.” Jisung interrupted Felix before he could defend himself. Felix closed his mouth again and nodded in agreement instead.

“Pretty much.”

Jisung nodded with finality, turning to inspect the tree trunk again.

“And I’m not more or less ‘whipped’ for anyone over anyone else…” He grumbled under his breath, probably with the intention to go unheard, but both Felix and Hyunjin heard it anyway. And both felt their faces heat up ever so slightly.

“Anyway!” Hyunjin interrupted the moment before it could get too awkward. “Now Sungie knows how to infuse magic into his weapons, but I don’t! Lix, can you help me, too?”

Felix gave Hyunjin a deadpan look.

“You are the warrior among us, you need to figure out how you can use your warrior powers to, you know, use them as a warrior. I haven’t even figured my own out yet…”

“Your powers are literally the elements, it can’t be that hard to use them in your weapons!”

Felix pouted.

“I know that, right?! But-... I just can’t seem to get it right. Like, how? I tried fire since it’s the most offensive, but all that got me was that my stars grew so hot I couldn’t hold them anymore, or the flames would go out when I threw them, or they just melted to hot clumps of metal that pose a wildfire risk but don’t necessarily do much damage to an attacker…”

Hyunjin scrunched his face up as he thought, tapping his chin.

“So, maybe fire is not the right element to use with your stars…”

“No shit, Sherlock…” Jisung snickered, and Hyunjin threw him a stink glare before focusing again.

“What about air, though? Wind can be pretty offensive. Bundle the air, and it can even cut…”

Felix’s eyes lit up and he picked out three throwing stars, holding them between his fingers. “I think I see what you mean…!” He could barely hold back his excitement. 

And still, it cost him a few tries, in which he bruised his knuckles, cut his fingers, and dropped the stars more often than he cared for before he figured out a technique that could work. It did work, too, the speed and sharpness of his stars increasing as he threw them, but he wasn’t entirely satisfied yet.

“They really don’t do much damage, do they. Even infused with magic…” He sighed after a while, shoulders slumping. 

Jisung came over, patting his back comfortingly.

“How about you leave the stars for the time being and try the nunchakus for now? You’re better with those, anyway.”

Felix sighed, shrugging, but followed Jisung’s advice anyway.

“What element do I use for these, though?” He’d only started with the stars because he couldn’t for his life think of what element to infuse the nunchakus with, anyway.

“Earth.” Hyunjin deadpanned, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Well, to Felix, it wasn’t. “What? Earth? How-...?”

“It’s simple,” Hyunjin shrugged. “You use them like you always would, but when you’re about to let them hit your opponent, you infuse them with the weight of a whole mountain… Or a large boulder, for starters.”

Felix felt like an idiot, but now that Hyunjin mentioned it, he knew exactly what to do.

Well, it didn’t go well the first time. Nor the second, the third or the fourth, and he nearly crushed his own hands a couple of times when the nunchakus became too heavy altogether all of a sudden. But he got the hang of it eventually, and a few craters on the clearing later, he was positive he’d be able to use the technique in battle.

“That’s not fair! Now all three of you know how to infuse magic in your weapons and I still don’t! When I’m supposed to be the warrior out of us!” Hyunjin griped eventually, after congratulating Felix on his success and watching both him and Jisung mulch the rest of the wood they’d gathered to practice on with their attacks. 

Jisung picked his daggers out of the rubble and slipped them in their scabbards before coming over to sling an arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders. 

“You’ll get there, Jinnie. If you can find a middle way between how your powers usually manifest and how you wield your weapon…”

Hyunjin sighed, though, shaking his head. “That’s it, though, isn’t it? My powers only manifest through my fighting skills and body strength and control. There’s nothing else I have going for me. Well, telekinesis, but how would that help me with my sword-work?”

Felix joined the pair as well, but he didn’t look like he had any more of a clue how to help Hyunjin than the other two.

“We’ll figure it out eventually, Jinnie. Let’s leave a note for Seungminnie before we leave, maybe he has an idea.”

Hyunjin pouted, about to reply with something when they were interrupted by a swarm of birds and a myriad of other flying creatures rising over the forest in a panic.

“What-...”

“Something is not right over there.” Hyunjin voiced what they all thought.

“Check?” 

“Check.” Felix and Hyunjin confirmed Jisung’s question, and sped after him when the empath didn’t waste time to dive between the trees in the direction the birds and creatures had risen from.

They were quick on their feet, knowing the forest like the back of their hands by now, and soon arrived at the site where trouble was brewing.

“Why are they attacking trees?” Felix whispered harshly as soon as they spotted the reason the creatures had fled.

A group of five orcs was breaking through the undergrowth, slashing left and right at bushes and ferns, but aiming for the trees specifically.

“I have no idea, but we can’t let them keep doing it!” Jisung hissed back, ready to dart out and towards the orcs. Felix and Hyunjin barely managed to hold him back.

“Are you crazy? There’s five of them! We’re three! And they are six times bigger than us; we don’t stand a chance in close combat!” Hyunjin hissed urgently, his words tripping over each other in his urgency.

“Quiet! They’ll hear us! Let’s use Minnie’s tactic and go up into the trees first!” Felix interrupted them, pulling both with him. They followed in silence, up into the relative safety of the canopy of the trees. 

“Let’s not waste the element of surprise as long as we have it.” Felix whispered. “Maybe we can take out at least one or two of them before we have to face them directly. Sung, think you can do what Minnie did yesterday and rip out a throat with one of your daggers? That should kill them even before they are weakened, right?”

Jisung inhaled sharply, but he nodded slowly as his gaze remained trained on the group of orcs, likely already looking for a suitable candidate for an attack.

“I don’t think my stars will do much, but I can try…”

“And Jinnie?”

“Jinnie waits until we have to face them directly and stays back until then. On three?” Felix directed, and Jisung nodded. Quietly, they moved through the canopy until they reached a point on either side of the group of orcs from which they’d have a good shot, and Felix lifted a hand with three fingers up, folding them down one by one. With the last one, both him and Jisung hurled their weapons at the orcs.

Felix’s stars hit two of the orcs, striking one across the face and the other in the chest. Neither did too much, besides making the orcs roar in surprise, turning to look at where the stars must have come from. 

Behind them, one of their companions fell without a single sound beyond the dull thud of its body hitting the forest floor. Jisung’s dagger hat hit it’s mark, landing between the orc’s neck and shoulder, and while it didn’t rip out anything, it cleanly snapped the orc’s neck.

The remaining four orcs organized themselves with astounding speed, breaking into two pairs to charge at the places they thought Jisung and Felix to be in. They hacked at the bushes and trunks of the trees indiscriminately, and a few of the smaller trees didn’t resist, falling under their hacking swords. 

That was the last thing their three attackers had been wanting to accomplish, and they quickly made eye contact and came to a decision.

“Retreat!” Jisung shouted, jumping to the ground, and Felix and Hyunjin followed. They shouldn’t clue the orcs in on their tactic of hiding in the trees for attacks, and therefore fled on the ground. The orcs gave up on hacking at the bushes, having a clear view of them now and started to give chase. They were bigger, heavier, and easily broke through the undergrowth, and many obstacles, but Jisung, Felix and Hyunjin had the advantage of knowing the terrain and being generally quicker. Eventually, after a while of mad chase, they managed to evade the orcs.

“That was…”

“Fun!”

“Terrifying!” Hyunjin cut off Jisung, completing Felix’s sentence. “What is wrong with you to find a life threatening situation  _ fun?!” _

Jisung was about to retort, expression darkening, but Felix stopped him.

“Stop it! Those four are still out there, and they certainly don’t have the best intentions here! We still have to stop them!”

Hyunjin huffed. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

“First of all, we find them. And then, we’ll see.” Jisung smirked. To Hyunjin’s annoyance, Felix agreed.

“Back into the trees, for as long as they don’t suspect us there. Let’s go!”

The other two followed, and they traced their steps back one level higher until they found the orcs. They were alert now, carefully checking their surroundings as they advanced and not making much noise, instead listening carefully to the sounds of the forest. 

“I don’t think another sneak attack will work, not the same we did earlier.” Jisung doubted, and Felix agreed.

“They’re not allowing openings in their armour and are watching each other’s backs. If we want a shot at one, we need to isolate one.”

Jisung nodded slowly, while Hyunjin remained quiet.

“I’ll come up with something to break them apart. You two take care of the isolated one.” Felix decided eventually, ducking out of their hideout to attack the orcs from the other side. 

At first, it wasn’t apparent what he was planning when the wind started to pick up around them, raising leaves and dirt. They could even write it off as a natural occurrence, but from their spot high up in the trees, Jisung and Hyunjin could tell the wind was just picking up in the small spot surrounding the orcs while the rest of the forest remained peaceful.

One by one, the orcs started shielding their eyes as dirt was thrown at them, and soon the first grunts were heard. Felix was mixing his throwing stars between the leaves and twigs whipping through the air, and blindly, the orcs were stumbling apart. Before long, one of them managed to break out of Felix’s attack, and Jisung and Hyunjin saw that as their cue to attack. Jisung threw a dagger at it but missed, and it blocked the second dagger. And then, Hyunjin attacked from the back. He was too tentative, though, his attacks lacking strength and aim. 

Jisung conjured his daggers once more, attacking with ferocity and working to force the ork into opening its defense to Hyunjin’s attacks. And still, Hyunjin missed. Something was wrong, but as Jisung tried to figure out what it was he neglected his own defense and got hit by the orc. He stumbled back, reeling from the hit, and barely managed to dodge another one.

“Hyunjin!” He called out, half annoyed, half scared. “What are you doing?!”

He didn’t have time to wait for an answer, though, scrambling to his feet and dodging another attack. He managed to slash at the orc’s armour, cutting some of the leather strings holding the armour in place and making the whole bottom half of it slip down a few centimeters, but didn’t manage to wound it. On the other hand, the orc managed to grab a hold on the back of Jisung’s clothes, though, yanking him up in the air.

“Hyunjin!” Jisung’s cry was shrill with unconcealed fear, and still he tried his best to slash at the orc and get it to release him.

The rawness of Jisung’s scream managed to shatter something in Hyunjin, though; it was as if someone had snapped chains tying weights to his limbs, and he charged at the orc blindly. Or rather, with a different kind of vision. It was once again as if the world around him sank into blacks and dark reds while the orc stood out as if under a spotlight. Every one of its movements came as if in slow motion, and the openings in its defense and armour became glaring to Hyunjin, just begging him to use them.

And he did.

With just a few slices and stabs of his sword, the orc was brought to its knees, before it even knew what was going on. It grunted, trying to get up again, and its already damaged armour ripped further apart. It was the opening Hyunjin needed, and he swooped in, slashing between the leather belts and cutting across the entire width of the orc’s stomach. 

The creature bellowed in pain as blood and other liquids gushed out of the wound, increasing the already foul stench the orc naturally gave off a hundredfold. It dropped Jisung, who scrambled to his feet and away from the orc before it could change ideas and grab him again.

The orc didn’t care about Jisung, though, curling in on itself and over its split stomach.

From a safe distance, Jisung looked back and had to cover his mouth and nose, averting his eyes again just as quickly to avoid vomiting. He could have lived happily for the rest of his life without knowing what the innards of an orc looked like. 

Hyunjin didn’t look away, though he avoided looking at the gaping wound he’d created and focused on the rest of the orc instead. Its strength was quickly decreasing, its breathing growing shallower, and before long it grew still. Only then did he turn away, hurrying to find Jisung. 

As soon as he did, he hugged him close, relieved to find him whole.

“Are you ok?”

Jisung shook his head against Hyunjin’s chest.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ok again.”

Hyujin held him tighter, shuddering as the image of Jisung lifted into the air by the orc’s hands replayed in his mind, together with his terrified scream.

“I’m sorry… Did you get hurt anywhere?”

Again, Jisung shook his head, though. “No. Bruised, but I’ll be fine. Let’s find Felix.”

With that, he stepped out of Hyunjin’s hold, who let go of him reluctantly and followed instead.

They found Felix on the opposite side of where he was keeping the three remaining orcs busy. As soon as he spotted Hyunjin and Jisung, he summoned his throwing stars back to him and dropped his control over the wind. Within seconds, the leaves and dirt settled and the forest grew quiet again.

“Let’s go.” Felix urged the other two, leading them further away from the orcs. They stopped out of earshot from the creatures, and still, Felix kept his voice low.

“I won’t be able to pull that stunt again, and my time is running out; I’m going to wake up soon. We need to figure out what it is those orcs came here for, it doesn’t seem normal to me that so many of them are here; they must want something, and we have to figure out what it is. And we’ll have to let Seungmin know what’s going on.”

The other two nodded solemnly, and Hyunjin nodded at the direction they’d come from.

“Should we follow them?”

Felix nodded. “That’s our best bet for now. If we’re lucky, they’re shaken up enough now to lie low for a little bit. Let’s see if they set up camp somewhere and then let Seungmin know about it.”

With a silent agreement, they returned to where they’d left the orcs, which were still gathering their bearings. They were visibly shaken up, but they got their guard up again regardless as they gathered around their fallen comrade. With a gruff grunt and quick lifting of their joined fists to their foreheads, they seemed to pay their respects to the dead orc, and left right after. At a distance and still hidden high up in the trees, the trio followed the orcs as they broke their way through the underbrush.

Eventually, Felix tapped both Hyunjin and Jisung’s shoulders, gripping their hands for a moment before he flickered and vanished.

“Fuck’s sake… It never gets easier.” Jisung muttered under his breath as Hyunjin swallowed thickly, shaking his head to clear it afterwards.

“Come. Our time is running out, too, and we still have to warn Minnie.”

Jisung nodded and followed Hyunjin in stalking the mountain orcs.

They stopped eventually, and so did Hyunjin and Jisung, wondering what had prompted their sudden halt. That was, until shapes became clear between the trees - or lack thereof, since apparently, they’d reached the edge of the forest at the base of the mountains - and they were able to make out a small camp. 

Slowly, they became aware that what they had been looking at was under some sort of glamour, and as they observed the orcs moving about, more and more of their camp surfaced from it. Until-...

Hyunjin gripped Jisung’s arm tightly, pointing at the back of the camp, where several large boulders lay. It took Jisung a moment, but then he saw it, too. One of the boulders… wasn’t a boulder, at all.

“They have a dragon?!”

Hyunjin bit his lip, nodding slowly.

“And not just any dragon… It’s nothing like the ones from the forest. Look at it’s size!”

The dragon was big enough to probably carry at least one of the mountain orcs, if not two. And yet, it didn’t look as if carrying anything would be something it did any time soon. Heavy chains criss-crossed its body, deeply embedded in the huge boulders surrounding it. Its wings were strapped down to its body uncomfortably tightly, and its claws trimmed with what must have been an axe, judging from how rough and uneven the cuts were. It’s snout was muzzled by more chains, and several iron rings were clasped around it’s long neck and each of its legs. It was a majestic creature, alright, but it looked incredibly pitiful chained down like that.

“It doesn’t look like it’s an ally to the orcs, if you ask me…” Jisung remarked, unnecessarily. Of course it wasn’t, otherwise they wouldn’t have to chain it down like that. Nor would it cower and flinch every time one of the orcs came near it.

“Do you think we could free it? Or would it kill us if we tried?” Hyunjin whispered, but Jisung could only shrug. 

“No idea… But they obviously brought it down here for something, so it has to play an important role in their plans, and we should definitely try to thwart those plans.”

Hyunjin had to agree, but before he could answer, he felt an unmistakable sensation run through his body.

“Sung, I’m waking up. Don’t stay around, go back to the cave and write a note to Minnie!”

Jisung’s eyes widened, and he quickly reached out to squeeze Hyunjin’s hand in a fleeting goodbye before the other disappeared in front of his eyes. He didn’t stay behind watching the orcs any longer, either, setting out to return back to the cave instead. Hyunjin was right, it was imperative that he let Seungmin in on what they had discovered and been up to all day!

***

Felix nearly let his head fall into a full bowl of cereal at the table; for the third time that morning.

“What’s up with you, Lix? Didn’t sleep well?” Chan chuckled, pushing Felix back upright in his chair.

“Hmm?” Felix mumbled sleepily, blinking his eyes open and needing a moment to compute Chan’s question. “Oh. No, no, all good…” He dodged.

Chan didn’t seem to believe him.

“Oh, really? Good.” He still accepted Felix’s answer, much to the younger’s surprise. “Are you still having those dreams, with all the creatures and… Jisung and Hyunjin, was it?” He asked, though, casually, with his head in the fridge. 

Felix froze in his seat.

“Uh… yeah…” He wouldn’t lie to Chan, but he didn’t necessarily want to go into details there.

“Ah, cool. Wait, there was another person there, too, wasn’t there. Did you ever find out more about them?”

Felix shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but Chan didn’t see it, his head still in the fridge.

“Uh… yeah…” Felix answered again, and this time Chan pulled his head back to give him an odd look.

“That all you have to say now?”

Felix shook his head. “Uh… no…”

If anything, Chan’s gaze became even more unimpressed, and he actually shut the fridge door, now with a box of pineapple juice in hand.

“So, what about them? Have you met them? Are they cool? Not so much?” He prompted, and again, Felix shifted uncomfortably, staring at his now soggy cereal to avoid Chan’s gaze.

“Yeah, he’s… cool.” Was all he answered, though.

Chan sighed, shaking his head and pursing his lips.

“Well, fine; keep your secrets. Do you want me to pick you up after your lectures and give you a ride home? You look like you could use an afternoon nap that doesn’t happen in the library.”

Felix looked up eventually, giving Chan a look that he hoped conveyed his eternal gratitude; both for stopping his questions about Seungmin and the dream world, as well as for offering that ride home. He was already  _ so _ looking forward to a nap later that day! 

And maybe, he’d even run into Seungmin if he napped late enough…!

Getting up, he went over to where his cousin was pouring himself a glass of pineapple juice and hugged him tightly.

“Thanks, Channie hyung. You are the best!” 

And he meant it. There was probably not a single person in the whole world who understood his moods and needs as well as Chan. Well… at least not yet.

  
  



	5. Enemies and Allies

Seungmin sat high up in a tree, hands clasped over his mouth to keep himself from uttering a single sound that could reveal his position. Normally, he wouldn’t have needed that kind of precaution, but apparently, times were suddenly very different than what he’d gotten used to as of late. Now, he was in actual danger, and so was the forest. For some of the creatures of the forest it was even too late already. Some being quite a few, if his eyes weren’t deceiving him and what he was seeing was actually three mountain orcs roughly chopping down tree after tree, forming a rapidly growing clearing in the forest.

It wasn’t just any part of the forest they were attacking, either, but one dense with nymph trees, and it was the wail of one such nymph, crying out as their tree was chopped down, that startled Seungmin out of his horrified trance. He physically shook himself, forcing his eyes away from the sight of one of the orcs grabbing the nymph, turned corporeal in their distress, and pressing some kind of amulet to their chest that seemed to suck them in. It was only a matter of seconds, and then the orc was attacking the next tree with its large axe.

He had to do something, Seungmin decided. He couldn’t stand by and watch this for even just a second longer. It was way too dangerous for him to engage the orcs on his own, yes, but he couldn't just let them keep destroying the forest, killing trees and capturing their nymphs, either! If he could at least stop them, drive them out…!

He didn’t know if it would work, but he had to try. Without thinking about it any longer, he grabbed his bow and set three arrows on the string; even if they didn’t hit their mark, even if each of them only managed to carry a small part of the magic for extra impact, maybe they would at least give the orcs pause. Maybe they would succeed in making the orcs believe they were under attack by multiple people again, and they’d retreat, rather than risk getting killed like their companions the day before.

Adjusting his hold on both bow and arrows, he pulled back, took aim, and let loose. 

A grunt and a roar, as well as a sudden halt in the activities on the clearing, told Seungmin at least two of his arrows had hit the orcs. The damage they had done was nothing too overwhelming, but it did give the orcs pause. Now it was on Seungmin to be careful not to reveal his position or his numbers, and try to further scare the creatures off. 

Boldly, Seungmin pulled six arrows from his quiver, arranging them on his bow and string methodically before pulling back and letting them fly. This time around, they were much less coordinated, and only one actually managed to wound one of the orcs, while two others ricocheted off armour and three flew past the orcs to bury in the ground harmlessly. 

The recently wounded orc bellowed something, to which another grunted in displeasure, and that was enough for both to charge at each other. Seungmin stared on in bewilderment, not having expected the orcs to turn against each other. Apparently, neither had the third orc of the group, and it approached its two comrades to bash both over the head, harshly, growling something that had both of them heel instantly. As if they were a singular entity, all three orcs hoisted their axes and broke into a thundering, ground-shaking jog, disappearing between the trees in the direction opposite from Seugmin.

For a little while, Seungmin followed them, until it became clear they were heading back to their camp. As soon as Seungmin realized that, he turned around and hurried back to the clearing.

The sight of the roughly chopped down trees, nymph-trees and regular ones alike, was painful for him to watch. There wasn’t much he could do to help, either. Trees were a special kind of being, they could heal on their own and start their recovery in a matter of days, remain dormant for a long time before shooting leaves again and starting their growth anew, or die right there, and there was little Seungmin could do to influence that. And he didn’t know how nymph-trees were affected, either; especially nymph trees whose nymphs had been captured and taken away from their injured trees.

And still Seungmin tried the best he could, letting his powers seep into each and every stump on the clearing to give them strength, encourage them in their recovery, and grant his help should they choose to go dormant. 

Once he reached the end of the clearing, mainly one thing had solidified in his mind, and he mumbled his resolve in the eerie quiet of the forest: “I’ll do whatever I can to get your nymphs back home and those vandals out of our lands. That, I promise you…!”

“So, you’ve decided to stand with us against those vermin, after all.” 

Seungmin let out a very undignified squeak as he jumped, nearly out of his own skin as well, at the voice sounding right behind him. Upon turning, he found the leader of the wolf pack standing just a breath away from where he’d been standing before.

“Holy smokes, make some noise when you walk up to someone, would you!” He had to physically stop himself from punching the wolf in retaliation. “How long have you been creeping around here watching me?”

The wolf blinked in a very human way, bewilderment at Seungmin’s behaviour written across his features.

“It would be counterproductive for me to make noise when approaching someone…” He tried to defend himself tentatively, but Seungmin cut him off with a shake of his head, heart still beating rapidly.

“When approaching  _ prey!  _ Do you consider me prey now?!”

The wolf actually reared back a step. “I would never!”

The genuine horror at the mere notion expressed in the wolf’s voice finally succeeded in snapping Seungmin the rest of the way out of his momentary shock.

“Oh, well… I’m sorry. You just startled me, I wasn’t expecting anyone to stand behind me.” He apologized. “Was there anything specific you wanted to talk to me about?”

The wolf accepted the apology wordlessly, going straight to the point of his sudden appearance.

“I came to propose a pact to you.”

Seungmin’s eyes widened slightly, eyebrows rising in interest and surprise.

“A pact?”

“Against the mountain folk.” The wolf proceeded to explain, though that part Seungmin could have guessed on his own. “They aren’t coming down here on a whim this time, they have a goal, and judging by their work here, it can’t be a good one. That’s why I propose a pact, between you, me and mine, as well as the forest folks, the ground folks and the grasslands folks, as well as the weres and dragons.”

Seungmin listened attentively, though he had to admit the list of the supposed involved surprised him.

“A pact between all those creatures sounds like a good idea in these times of crisis, but will you be able to tolerate each other long enough to fight our shared enemy efficiently? I know for a fact that you are even more at odds with each other than you are with your usual prey…”

The wolf somehow managed to look offended, but under Seungmin’s unwavering stare, he caved.

“We would. If it was you, all four of you, leading us, we would.”

Seungmin raised an inquisitive, doubtful eyebrow.

“Would you? You’d actually set aside your disputes, even with the weres, to fight the mountain folks?”

It was an almost comical sight, watching a giant wolf grit their teeth, but there was no humor in either Seungmin’s or the wolf’s gaze as the latter answered. 

“We would.”

Seungmin was actually impressed by the wolf’s determination.

“Fine, let’s assume  _ you _ would. But what about the weres? Would they agree as easily?”

The wolf exhaled deeply.

“I am sure they will, once they understand the severity of the situation. This here,” he pointed his snout at the new clearing “should be convincing enough.”

Seumin opened his mouth to answer the wolf when he felt a telltale sensation that couldn’t have chosen a worse moment to start.

“I have to go.” He hastily informed the wolf. “I like your idea of a pact, though I believe it won’t be as easy to make it as you would like to have both of us believe. But if you can find those other creatures you just mentioned and send them my way for a discussion of what this pact would entail, I am willing to form it. We certainly could use the help if we want to defend the forest against those brutes.”

The wolf agreed quickly, but Seungmin had already broken out into a sprint, rushing to get back to the cave before he inevitably woke up. He still had to leave the others a note informing them about the events that had happened during his stay.

For once, his handwriting was messy and barely legible as he wrote the note once he’d made it back to the cave, and still he wasn’t fast enough to finish writing it. At least the only thing missing was his goodbyes and well-wishes, though it did hurt him that he hadn’t had the time to write them down before his body decided to wake him up.

***

“Are we sure this is from Seungmin? It doesn’t look like his handwriting.” Hyunjin adverted for the nth time as Jisung read the note they’d found in the cave today. Jisung ignored him for the time being as he finished reading.

“He didn’t even leave his goodbyes and said nothing at the end. Would Minnie really do that…?” Felix mused quietly, too, sadness speaking through his tone.

Jisung shook his head, though. “It’s from Seungmin. I can feel it.”

The other two stared at him with somewhat suspicious, kind of doubting looks.

“Look, I can’t explain how, I can just  _ feel  _ it. He was in a hurry and probably woke up before he could finish writing the note. But I can feel the urgency with which the note was written, the need to get everything important out and on paper to protect us. Especially that, the protectiveness, that is such a signature Seungmin feeling…” He shook his head, setting the note down with finality, disregarding Felix’s and Hyunjin’s still doubtful looks. “This is Seungmin’s. And even if you don’t want to trust what I feel, just think about it: who else in this world knows korean? Who else knows how to  _ write,  _ in the first place? And who would come in here, anyway?”

Slowly, Felix and Hyunjin relented, seeing that Jisung had a point.

“If this is all true, then… Minnie really engaged three mountain orcs in a fight on his own. That’s-... I’d never have expected that of him. I thought he’d know better. What if he got hurt?!” Hyunjin muttered, hands balling into fists around the leather straps of his armour. 

“What else was he supposed to do?” Felix jumped to defend Seungmin. “Just let the orcs destroy more of the forest and capture more nymphs?”

An uncomfortable silence answered him.

“I don’t like that he had to fight on his own, either, but he got this. He handled it. He’s smarter than we are, too, he won’t go down as easily. We need to trust him more.” Felix concluded, but by then Hyunjin’s face was darkening already.

“He might be smarter, but... I still don’t want him to have to fight alone. We need to figure something out.”

“Uh, guys…” Jisung interrupted them then, before Felix could reply again. “Do you smell that?”

Felix and Hyunjin looked around, sniffing the air, but couldn’t figure out what it was Jisung was getting at. Jisung frowned, leading the way to the entrance of the cave, and suddenly, Felix and Hyunjin  _ saw _ what Jisung was smelling.

“Smoke? But…” Felix was speechless with incredulity.

“In all this time since I first got here, I haven’t seen anyone make fires in the forest, ever.” Hyunjin corroborated what Felix wasn’t able to put into words.

“That’s the area of the nymphs, too. They’d be the last ones to make a fire. Something is not right!” 

Before Hyunjin and Felix had even fully processed what was going on, Jisung had already started his descent from the cliff, almost flying down the side of the steep incline to run off towards the fire. Felix and Hyunjin had no choice but to follow.

They rushed through the forest at record speed, and soon reached the edge of a clearing that hadn’t been there before; it must have been the one mentioned in the note Seungmin had left. 

Still, none of the three was thinking about the previous existence - or lack of - of that clearing, too shocked to process what they were seeing happening  _ on  _ that clearing.

The mountain orcs had dragged the dragon with them, and were now trying to force it into setting the forest aflame. The dragon fought against them, refusing to heel, but there was little it could do. Its wings were still chained down, and heavy chains ran from its members to each of the three orcs. All three of the orcs carried menacing, barbed chains as whips, and they weren’t shy to use them on the dragon to force it to do their bidding.

All three of the boys winced when one whip cracked down over the dragon’s snout, and the dragon roared, releasing a giant fire-ball against the orcs. Unfortunately, it missed the orcs, and instead engulfed a tree behind them. The dragon froze, realizing what it had done, and filled with so much regret Jisung could feel it all the way across the clearing. It didn’t have much time to dwell on its actions, though, since the orcs were quick to drag it further along the clearing to force it to set more trees on fire. 

“This is bad…!” Jisung mumbled nervously under his breath, eyeing the fire warily as it spread quickly among the tree-tops. “If the trees burn down, they won’t be able to come back to life. And there’s so many creatures here… What are we going to do?”

“We have to kill the orcs first and make sure they don’t cause more damage. And then we’ll fight the fire. Can you do the exploding dagger again?” Felix suggested, and Jisung nodded, already pulling out his weapons. 

Before he could head off, he caught a glance of Hyunjin that gave him pause, though.

“Jinnie? Are you ok?” He asked, even though the emotions suddenly rolling over him told him Hyunjin was anything  _ but _ ok. His words caught Felix’s attention, too, though.

Hyunjin was staring at the fire with a glassy look, his face white as a sheet as tears rolled down his cheeks and a tremor took hold of his entire body.

“Jinnie?” Felix tried, gentler, but still got no response from Hyunjin.

Jisung closed the distance to Hyunjin and stood directly in front of him.

“Change of plans. Lix, go see if you can do something to keep the fire from spreading too much. I’ll look after Hyunjin first and see if I can take down at least one of those bastards later.” He suggested, before focussing fully on Hyunjin. With firm hands on his shoulders, he turned around with Hyunjin until his back was to the fire and all he could see was Jisung and untouched forest.

“Jinnie, focus on me, please. Can you do that?”

Hyunjin couldn’t, apparently, since Jisung got no response.

“Hey, Jinnie, please, I need you to be responsive! I need to fight those orcs to protect the forest but I can’t just leave you here if you can’t even defend yourself or run away!” He pleaded with urgency, but all it did was increase Hyunjin’s shaking and wring a broken sob out of him. 

Jisung blanched, realization hitting him. Of course! His own emotions were affecting Hyunjin’s too, and together with his own urgency, fear and anger, it must be an explosive cocktail right now. He could  _ feel _ Hyunjin’s terror, after all! What he had to do now was calm Hyunjin down, first and foremost. 

Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to calm down himself first, and then to… Somehow, convey those feelings of calmness. The effect was visible pretty much immediately, Hyunjin’s shaking subsiding to a minimum and then stopping completely.

“That’s it, Jinnie. It’s ok. I got you…” He whispered, wiping at the tear tracks on Hyunjin’s face. “I got you. Come back to me. It’s ok.” 

Slowly, colour returned to Hyunjin’s cheeks and his eyes focussed on Jisung.

“Hey there. You with me?”

Hyunjin nodded slowly, then frowned, though. “T-the fire…!” He tried to put urgency into his words, but the heavy feeling of calmness Jisung blanketed them with took it right back out.

“Felix is handling it. I need to go after the orcs. You… You should go back to the cave, where you are safe.”

Hyunjin fowned, shaking his head. “I can help you!”

Jisung refused, though.

“I know you can, under normal circumstances. But I can’t have you blanking in the middle of a fight because of the fire. I got this, Jinnie. Go back and let me and Lix handle this.”

Hyunjin looked hesitant for a moment, but he got Jisung’s point eventually and nodded slowly. Jisung hugged him quickly, then stepped back to let Hyunjin go on his way. He watched him retreat for a moment, then turned back to the clearing and finally darted off to fight the orcs. 

He climbed into the trees again, moving inside their canopy to get the closest he could to the orcs for a clear shot. Infusing his daggers with magic he threw first one, then the other. Unfortunately, both missed their targets as the orcs moved about. Worse even, one of the orcs picked one of the daggers up, keeping Jisung from being able to summon it back to him.

Gritting his teeth, Jisung infused the dagger he had managed to retrieve with magic, ready to throw it again. Before he could, he was interrupted by a sharp cry coming from above, though. What looked like a giant ball of burning reds and oranges came falling rapidly towards the clearing, and Jisung barely had time to process that it was a phoenix he was seeing when the creature already crashed into the orc who’d picked up his dagger, seemingly exploding and immediately setting the creature on fire. 

The orc roared, but it didn’t try to fight the flames engulfing its body. Instead, it ran; right into the forest, a part not yet touched by the flames, and set it on fire as it went. It didn’t go far, the chains attaching it to the dragon preventing it from doing so, but the damage was done. Before it died, it managed to work towards the group’s goal a little further. 

Frustrated, Jisung hurled his dagger at one of the remaining orcs, and while it didn’t directly hit it, at least it wrought some damage by grazing it and breaking the orc’s arm. Still, Jisung wished it had done more, and his frustration mounted as he cursed his bad aim today. To make matters worse, the orcs seemed to have found where the daggers came from, and came charging for Jisung.

Summoning his daggers back, Jisung jumped out of the trees, ready to fight the two brutes. They were blind with rage and raw with determination, both rolling off them in almost tangible waves. Jisung tried not to let it affect him, but his own frustration wasn’t helping. He fought valiantly, but he was sure he could do better, and the fact he wasn’t only managed to aggravate him further. That, in turn, affected the orcs as well, and in no time, the trio were fighting in blind, frustrated rage. 

Jisung got some good hits in with the orcs, using his comparatively small size as an advantage in close combat with two giant, hulking figures that often got in the way of each other, but he didn’t get away completely unscathed, either. And eventually, what had to happen in a battle with as unfavourable odds as this one, happened: Jisung got caught.

One of the orcs managed to kick him, and he flew high off the ground. The other orc caught him by an ankle, and Jisung felt pain shooting through his entire body, not sure if his bones were crushed, breaking, or dislocating, but  _ something _ definitely wasn’t right. And yet, he somehow mustered the strength to contort his body out of the way when the orc swung his giant fist at him, against the protests of all of his muscles. 

The orc roared in frustration, but the other stopped him. It grunted something, and Jisung could vaguely make out the meaning. He wished he hadn’t, though, as ice cold fear froze his insides solid now.

Orcs, against what he would have assumed, were empaths, too. Only these ones thrived off fear, and that Jisung felt in spades. It only mounted when the orc holding him finally caught his other leg, and he could already see himself being ripped in half, when suddenly the grip on both of his ankles slackened. 

With a muted cry, he crashed to the ground, where he stayed, unmoving. He thought it was only fair he did; a fall headfirst out of a four meter height warranted a moment to gather his bearings. What he didn’t expect was to be joined on the ground by the upper half of an orc, before the lower half and legs crumpled over the torso.

“What-...” He croaked out in a broken whisper, all of his ribs protesting the effort. He couldn’t see, only hear the sounds of a fight, until a bright silver light flashed somewhere to his left, followed by a dull thud, and then silence. 

Only seconds later, there were hands on Jisung’s body, turning him over with urgency.

“Jisung! Sung, Sungie, please be ok…!” Hyunjin’s frantic words reached Jisung’s ears, registering before Hyunjin’s features came into focus.

“I’m ok…” Jisung tried to reassure him, but his rough, scratchy whisper didn’t even convince himself.

“You’re not…! Oh god, you’re really, really not!” A sob wrung itself out of Hyunjin’s throat as he kneeled hard on the ground next to Jisung. “Oh Sungie… I’m so sorry, Sung. So, so sorry! I should have been here, I should have fought by your side. I should never have left…!” Tears tracked down Hyunjin’s face; at least Jisung assumed they did, since he couldn’t see them. His vision was blurry, his eyes burning, and he had to close them. 

It took a while before Jisung realized the reason why his vision was blurry and his eyes burned, but when he did, all he could do was groan in misery. Great. Here he was, bleeding and probably with a broken back and however many other bones, and now he’d probably get a cold, too, in this stupid rain. Why did it always have to rain in the worst possible moments?

“Felix…!” Hyunjin muttered. Then, louder. “Lixie! He did it! The fires are going out!” 

Oh, Jisung thought. So, maybe, the rain wasn’t all that bad.

“Sung! Jinnie!” The voice of the culprit for the rain rang out. “What happened to you guys- Holy shit, Sung!” Felix gasped as he drew near and saw the whole extent of Jisung’s condition.

Jisung attempted a small smile, unsure if he succeeded.

“Hey, Lix. You did it.” He praised, his small voice still conveying so much more than the upfront, literal meaning of his words.

“And so did you… What the hell happened for you to get beaten up like this?”

Jisung grimaced. “I played punching bag for the wrong species?”

Felix groaned, kneeling down next to Jisung as well. 

“Really, now? Was that necessary?” Despite his words, his tone was warm and full of worry. “If only Seungmin was here…” He sighed.

“Uh, guys…” Hyunjin suddenly squeaked, breathless. “I- I think we forgot something.”

Felix whipped around, and Jisung did his best to turn his head and see where Hyunjin was looking, too. He couldn’t make out anything beyond the orc-corpses blocking his view, though.

“Oh shit… The dragon!” Felix’s whisper clued him in eventually. 

At this point, Jisung didn’t even have it in him for his blood to freeze at the implications that notion brought anymore. At least his own didn’t, but he could feel very clearly how Hyunjin’s did, the same panic from earlier, when facing the fire, consuming him. That, and… Well, it wasn’t Felix’s fear he felt, but there was another’s fear present, fighting for Jisung’s attention. But, if it wasn’t Felix’s, Hyunjin’s or his own, whose…

“Actually… I think it’s more afraid of us than we are of it…” Felix mused after a moment, clearly still watching the dragon. He started getting up, but Hyunjin clung to him with a whimper.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Felix reassured Hyunjin, but relented. “But, if you won’t let me sit so I can watch the dragon while trying to patch up Sungie, you watch it.”

Hyunjin didn’t protest, sitting paralyzed with fear and unable to take his eyes off the creature that looked as if it wanted nothing more than to get out of this situation, too. It couldn’t, though, still chained down as it was and with its chains attached to the dead orcs, still.

“Give me a second, and I’ll try to help you…” Felix bargained with the dragon, all while tying a tourniquet around Jisung’s leg, paying no attention to Jisung’s weak protests. He dressed a few other injuries quickly, too.

“We’ll try to get you back to the cave as soon as we’re done here. Hang in there, Sung.” Felix eventually concluded, getting up from his keeling position next to Jisung to step up to the dragon.

In it’s fear, the dragon did the first thing that came to its mind: it spewed a giant ball of fire at Felix. 

Hyunjin’s and Jisung’s panicked cries went unheard, and were unnecessary. Felix stood calm as ever in the middle of the fire-ball sent his way, and quickly absorbed all of it lest it set more of the clearing on fire. 

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Felix tried to reassure the dragon as soon as the flames dissipated around him. “And neither are my friends. I just want to check those chains and see if I can help you!”

The dragon roared, trying to stand on its hind legs and spread its wings to intimidate using its size, but it couldn’t. Felix wasn’t impressed by the attempt, either. 

Where Jisung had felt the foreign fear before, now there was confusion as well, coming from the dragon.

The dragon belched another ball of fire, but once again, Felix absorbed it and the dragon’s confusion mounted, mixed with a hefty dose of growing despair.

“Lix, let’s just go…” Hyunjin begged brokenly, shaking like a leaf, but Felix protested.

“We can’t. We can’t leave the dragon here like this, it’ll die under those chains if we do!”

“But- It’ll kill  _ us _ if we stay here any longer!”

Jisung thought Hyunjin had a point, but Felix didn’t want to hear it. And Jisung… Well. He didn’t really have a say at the moment, since he wasn’t really in a position to make any decisions or enforce any demands. What he could do, however… Maybe he could still help. He closed his eyes, focusing intently on the different emotions he felt around himself, other than his own. There was Hyunjin’s fear, Felix’s determination, and the convoluted mess of fear, confusion, despair and some other coming from the dragon. He focussed on that, mainly, and tried to summon a feeling of calm and contentness. 

“Sung…?” Hyunjin asked eventually, confusion ringing in his voice, but subdued under a layer of calmness.

Well, it looked like his attempts to control the emotions raging around him had at least had  _ some _ results, even if not with the being Jisung had tried to focus on; or had it?

“These chains are enchanted, I can’t break them.” Felix grit out a little further away, and blinking his eyes open again, Jisung found him way closer to the dragon, trying to break the chains tying the dragon to one of the orc corpses.

“The orcs are dead, why don’t you just cut the chains off their bodies?” Jisung suggested, but Felix gave him an unimpressed look. 

“Because that’s gross?”

Jisung rolled his eyes, and Hyunjin groaned, getting up from where he was still kneeling. The calmness Jisung had infused everywhere around him countered his fear, instead giving him a boldness he probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. 

With a few strikes of his sword, Hyunjin managed to cut one of the chains off the first orc’s body.

“Ewww, that’s so gross!” Felix gagged under his breath, averting his gaze with a shudder. “Jinnie, please…!”

“We want to free the dragon, right?” Hyunjin countered, though, hacking at the next corpse to get the chains off. “This is the best we can do for now.”

The dragon, contrary to Felix, eyed Hyunjin’s actions closely, if with a heavy dose of suspicion. It no longer tried to grill Felix - or Hyunjin, for that matter- anymore, though. Jisung’s calmness affected it, too, after all.

“There, all done!” Hyunjin declared eventually, quickly wiping off his sword and sheathing it again. Despite his new-found boldness, he still didn’t get closer to the dragon, though. That was Felix’s thing to do.

“See, we want to take the chains off you, but they are enchanted. We’ll have to figure out how, first. If you give us some time, I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Hyunjin shook his head at Felix’s attempts. “It can’t understand you, Lix.”

The dragon paused, tilting its head to give Hyunjin an almost offended look.

“I can understand you alright.” A deep voice suddenly hummed over the artificial clearing. “It’s whether I believe you or not that is the question here.”

Hyunjin squeaked, jumping back in sudden fright, but Jisung was still working his magic and his fear dissipated quickly.

“If you can understand us, you know what we’ve been talking about. Why do you still not believe us?”

The dragon struggled against the chains, giving Hyunjin an unimpressed look when his attempts remained fruitless, too.

“Being too trusting got me into this situation in the first place!”

Well, if that was the case, the dragon had a point, Hyunjin had to concede. Felix didn’t, however.

“Do you know who we are?” He asked the dragon, who huffed and gave up on the chains that were cutting into its flesh the more it struggled.

“Of course, I do!”

“Then you should also know we’ve never hurt another forest creature.” Felix nodded calmly. “These orcs notwithstanding. In fact, we make it a point to help whoever needs it, and to try and protect this forest.”

The dragon looked unconvinced, still, and Hyunjin finally stepped up to it.

“Listen, if we wanted to hurt you, we’d long since have done it. You’re chained down and can barely move, and Felix is immune to your fire. You have nothing to defend yourself with. If we wanted you dead, we could kill you easily. If we wanted to keep you as a pet or slave like those orcs did, we would just keep you the way you are and drag you off wherever. We definitely wouldn’t be trying to bargain with you to let us try breaking the chains off your body!”

The dragon growled, a dull red light in the back of its throat visible as it turned its head to Hyunjin. This time, Hyunjin didn’t back down, though, despite his fear of fire. Eventually, the light died down and the growl stopped, too, as the dragon must have taken Hyunjin’s words in.

“How do you want to break those chains if they are enchanted?” The dragon growled, displeased, but settled down eventually.

“With some sort of counter enchantment, of course. Or an enchanted weapon. We’ll have to figure how they are enchanted in the first place, though.” Hyunjin drew closer, inspecting the chains falling off the dragon’s body at a distance first, then closer up. This time, the dragon remained still, just watching both Hyunjin and Felix as they inspected the chains. 

Suddenly, however, the dragon’s head reared up and it growled threateningly, just before a figure broke out of the treeline and onto the clearing.

“Seungmin?” Felix wondered, incredulous, at the same time as Hyunjin exclaimed loudly.

“Seungmin!”

Seungmin came running over as fast as his legs would carry him.

“Minnie! How did you get here?! When- Why-?!”

“Nap.” Seungmin panted. “I don’t have much time. I just felt an overwhelming urge to nap, and when I fell asleep and woke up here, I just knew everything was wrong! Where- Oh god, Sung…!” He sank to the ground next to Jisung.

“Hey…” Jisung greeted him with a lopsided smirk. “How’s it going? Lovely weather today, isn’t it? Oh, don’t mind me just lying here in the mud…!”

Seungmin gave him an unimpressed glare, settling his hands over Jisung’s body and summoning his healing magic.

“Not funny. How the hell did this happen?!”

“He played punching bad for the wrong species.” Hyunjin informed Seungmin, just to earn a glare from Seungmin in response. “Hey! His words, not mine!”

Shaking his head, Seungmin turned back to Jisung, focusing intently on healing him.

“I don’t have much time, and neither do you. It’s going to be morning soon for you guys.” He informed, just as Jisung winced as his spine settled correctly once more, along with his leg. “Are these all the left-over orcs from yesterday?”

“We think so.” Felix confirmed. 

“And the dragon…?”

“Is the one they were holding captive.”

Seungmin nodded slowly, getting up once he finished healing Jisung.

“Will you let me heal your wounds, too?” He addressed the dragon directly, who reared back, eyes blown wide with suspicion.

“Seungmin would be that last being to ever wish any harm upon you.” Felix assured the dragon, but it took some calming and convincing from Jisung for the dragon to give in and let Seungmin come close enough to heal him. 

He did get some work done, but the dragon was big, and its injuries plenty, and Seungmin was only here for a nap. He focussed on the worst injuries first, only trying to alleviate mainly the parts of the dragon’s body that were tender because of the chains otherwise. In addition to the little time he only had to work on the dragon’s injuries, the dragon cut it even shorter as it eventually surged forward with a cry, staring distraught at the spot Felix had been in before.

“Felix is going to come back tomorrow.” Hyunjin explained once he understood what had unsettled the dragon. “It’s normal for him to disappear like this. We all will, sooner rather than later. But we’ll come back.”

Stepping back from the dragon, Seungmin nodded in agreement with Hyunjin. “I’m about to wake up, too.” He turned without another word and hugged Hyunjin tightly. “Hope to see you again soon!” With that, he let go and went to help Jisung back up. Jisung followed shakily, a little unbalanced even when he was standing again, and had to lean on Hyunjin for support. From there, Seungmin hugged him tightly, too, though carefully.

“Rest as much as you can today, ok? Tell your boss you can’t run around much or lift heavy things. I don’t know how much of this will carry over, but… Just be careful, ok?” He hugged Jisung again, and then he flickered and was gone as well.

The dragon let out a pitiful, confused noise that could pass as a whine.

“He’ll be back to finish healing you soon.” Hyunjin assured the dragon, adjusting his hold on Jisung. “We should get going, back to the cave. If you can walk with all those chains… That’s where you should wait for Seungmin to get back. And, well, the rest of us, so we can break you out of the chains.”

The dragon could walk, even if it was uncomfortable with all the chains, but it was doable. It had an easier time than Jisung, at least. They barely made it to the cave before Jisung started to flicker, too.

“See you tomorrow.” He turned to hug Hyunjin instead of relying on him to walk, and then he was gone.

Hyunjin shuddered as soon as Jisung vanished, wrapping his arms around himself as if to conserve the feeling of Jisung’s arms around him and staring off into empty space for a moment, before he pulled himself together again.

“Uh, anyway… I’m going to leave soon, too… You can stay here in the cave while you wait for us to come back.” Hyunjin cleared his throat awkwardly before extending the invitation.” Seungmin will be back first, and I’m sure he’ll do the best he can to heal you. And as soon as I’m back, I’ll see to it that I get those chains off you!”

The dragon shook its head slowly, huffing out a breath as it settled on the ledge in front of the cave.

“I’ll be fine waiting here.” It exhaled a large poof of smoke as it dropped the rest of the way.

Hyunjin, startled by the smoke and fearing fire to followe it, took a stumbling step back. He felt the ground dip under his foot too late, realizing with a start that he was falling, having stood too close to the edge. Before he could do much more than flail with his arms for a split second, he felt something press against his back and push him back onto the ledge. Upon turning around to check what had just happened, he saw the dragon retract its tail to coil it around itself.

“You should be more careful, young Sir. You don’t have any wings to soften a fall from this high…”

Shakily, Hyunjin hurried more towards the entrance of the cave.

“T-thank you.” He stuttered, bracing himself against the solid rock. 

The dragon inclined its head with a soft, low rumble, before tucking it behind the coils of its tail. Hyunjin stood awkwardly for a moment longer, before the telltale signs that he was waking up came over him.

“I’ll- I’ll see you later!” He managed, before the world turned black around him,and as he blinked, the ceiling of his room came into focus once more, along with the sounds of Jeongin fighting the coffee machine in their kitchen.

***

“You take naps now?” Minho eyed Seungmin with a suspiciously raised eyebrow. 

Seungmin shrugged. “I just felt really, really tired all of a sudden. I figured if I just napped for twenty minutes I’d feel better afterwards and be more productive than if I tried to power through the tiredness.”

Minho’s expression, if anything, became even more suspicious. “Who are you, and what have you done to my roommate?!”

Seungmin only rolled his eyes in response, continuing on his way to the kitchen to grab a snack.

“What?! Don’t roll your eyes at me! It’s weird, seeing you nap in plain daylight! You never nap! ‘I can revise four and a half pages in twenty minutes, four while tired! If I nap, I won’t catch up the lost time for three hours. I don’t have time for naps!’ Where’s that guy now?!” Minho mocked Seungmin’s philosophy to back up his claim, and Seungmin sighed.

“That guy actually learned something from all the revising and accepted that rest is just as important as good grades.” 

Minho looked as if he’d seen a ghost, scrambling for his phone. As soon as he found it, he quickly typed something on it and held it to his ear.

“Mom? I’m scared. Something happened to Seungminnie, he takes  _ naps _ now and says rest is just as important as good grades! I think something happened to him!” 

The call was obviously fake, and Seungmin could only roll his eyes again. Now with a snack in hand, he picked up a pack of tissues from the kitchen counter and hurled it at Minho. It hit him right in the forehead.

‘Nice!’ Seungmin thought for himself. All that archery training in the other world really did help with his aim even in this one!

“Cut it out, hyung. Don’t you have a lab report to finish, too?”

Minho swallowed thickly, looking at the books and notes scattered on the couch around him. 

‘Gotchu there.’ Seungmin thought, passing Minho and returning to his room without further hold-ups. As he closed the door behind himself again, his confident demeanor dropped instantly, though. He had to be more careful, not be as obvious about… Well. What exactly, he didn’t know, either. Just… Not worry Minho. Not show that something was different. That something inexplicable was on his mind… Literally.

Though, truth be told, they all had to be more careful, both in the other world, as well as in this one. He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of what could have happened if he hadn’t felt the urge to nap and gotten to help Jisung. And still… He wondered how Jisung was faring, back in the awake world now, too. How bad was he hurting, and how obvious would it be to those around him?

***

Jisung groaned for the tenth time since waking up. Every movement hurt, and he’d rather have stayed asleep a while longer. Maybe he could have healed a bit further in the dream world, before he had to face this one again. But, he’d actively procrastinated packing the day before, so he had to do it early in the morning. Now, if only he had someone to help him carry his stupid suitcase downstairs…!

“Need a hand with that?” A voice sounded out behind Jisung, and startled, he dropped his suitcase.

“Hyung! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” He yelped, clutching his heart as he turned around to find Younghyun standing in the bend of the stairs.

Younghyun hummed, catching Jisung’s slowly slipping suitcase and picking it up easily.

“What happened to you? You look like you’ve been fighting something again all night.” He asked, casually, and Jisung felt the blood drain from his face.

“Uh… Well, actually… Just… Nightmares?” He tried to shrug it off as he carefully came down the stairs to join Younghyun at eye level. Younghyun sighed, brows furrowed, before gently ruffling Jisung’s hair; without messing it up, he was considerate like that.

“You should try to avoid those. They are nasty.” He mumbled, then pushed Jisung’s hand out of the way as the younger tried to grab for his suitcase again. “Let me get this. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the car.”

Jisung frowned.

“I can take my own suitcase…” He tried, though his claim weakened as he remembered Seungmin’s words: no heavy lifting, no running around. 

“And I can help out my favourite employee when he looks like a sneeze can blow him out of his socks. Now go on, we still have a ton of meetings to get to and stuff to do before our plane leaves!”

Jisung didn’t argue further, walking down to the car and getting comfortable while his boss took care of his luggage. Just how bad must he look for Younghyun to pick up on it that he wasn’t feeling up to much today? He really had to be more careful if he didn’t want to accidentally reveal he travelled to another world at night while he slept… Yeah, not like anyone would believe him, anyway, even if he said that out loud! Never mind come to that conclusion on their own, no matter how weird he behaved! 

***

Hyunjin went to bed early; very early. So early, Jeongin asked him several times if he was ok, if he was sick, if he needed something. Eventually, Hyunjin all but snapped at him that all he needed was to be left alone to  _ sleep _ , and finally Jeongin gave up. Hyunjin felt bad that he’d snapped at him right away, knowing that Jeongin was only concerned and wanted the best for him. He decided he had to apologize first thing in the morning. For now, he had important business to attend in the dream world, though.

Once he got there, he rushed out of the cave immediately; just to almost trip over the dragon’s tail.

“You’re still here!” He exclaimed in relief, earning a grunt in reply as the dragon lifted its head. 

“It’s not like I’m at liberty to go far, like this…” It replied gruffly, and Hyunjin felt stupid all of a sudden.

“Uh, well… I guess you’re right…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “But… I just mean… I’m glad I get to help you, still! I’ve been doing some thinking, and I think-... I might have an idea on how to get these chains off you!”

The dragon tilted it’s head in question, and Hyunjin swallowed nervously.

“I do kind of need to study those chains and try some things to figure them out, though…”

The dragon grunted again, adjusting its position to further away from the rocky walls and as spread-out as possible to give Hyunjin access.

“Have at it.” It rumbled in its deep, cavernous voice, sounding completely serious.

Hyunjin could barely believe it, though, nervously shifting from one foot to the other, wary of coming closer to the dragon.

“Won’t you, uh… Won’t I… hurt you? You… You were pretty injured earlier, and I wouldn’t want to make anything worse…”

The dragon let out what sounded like a patient hum that rang with underlying amusement.

“You won’t hurt me, young Sir. Sir Seungmin came by earlier and healed what injuries were left on my body before heading off to meet someone to talk about a pact of some sort. Now, you are barely heavy enough to tickle me, never mind hurt me.” 

Right. Hyunjin felt dumb for assuming that. But, that was not his only worry.

“I won’t hurt you, either, young Sir, even if you managed to accidentally hurt me.”

It was as if the dragon could read Hyunjin’s mind, and Hyunjin was internally freaking out. Just in case it couldn’t and he actually had a shot at preserving some dignity, he tried to maintain his composure at least on the outside, though, and finally stepped up to the dragon to examine the chains.

As they’d figured the night before, since the chains were enchanted, an enchanted weapon could maybe break them. All he needed to find out was how they were enchanted, and what would counter those charms. And luckily, out of the four of them, he was the one with the most proficiency at wielding both pure magic and weapons. If anyone had a good shot at figuring this out, it was him.

It took him a while, as well as some yanking, rattling, and filing away at the chains for him to figure out what the enchantment could be. If it was, it wouldn’t be easy to break the chains, but it wasn’t impossible.

Experimentally, he charged his sword and wedged it into one of the stronger links several chains went off of, and - always careful not to hurt the dragon - applied pressure. It cost him all of his strength, mental and physical, to break the link, but he made it. 

Triumphantly, he threw his sword aside and freed the chains from the link, creating an opening in the maze of chains holding the dragon down. Still, it didn’t do much yet, nowhere near enough to free the dragon.

“Ok, I think I got this. Let me just…” Hyunjin looked around, following the chains crisscrossing the dragon’s body with his eyes. “It takes a lot of energy to break the chains, so I’ll have to make sure I break them where it matters. I’ll have to make sense of this first…”

Engrossed in his new mission, Hyunjin forgot all about his wariness, and fearlessly started lifting wings, pulling chains, shoving at the dragon’s tail, nudging its legs out of the way, and eventually even climbing on its back; whatever was necessary for him to follow the paths of the chains and figure out the system that held them together. 

Until, eventually, he thought he had it figured out, and started breaking liks again. It was twice as hard as it could have been since he had to try not to hurt the dragon; he was sure if he could just hack at the links in wild abandon, each of them would give after two, three hits. To keep the dragon unharmed, though, he couldn’t whack at the chains, he had to crack the links open. And that, that was hard.

Four links fell, and so did Hyunjin, sinking to his knees, panting to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry, this is taking longer than I thought…” He mumbled once he caught his breath, standing up on shaking legs to pull the recently broken chains off the dragon. Finally, one wing came free, and one leg got more mobility, too.

“I’m not rushing you, young Sir. I’m just grateful you are helping me.”

Hyunjin nodded quietly, not answering to conserve energy which he could use to break another link. And that he did.

Link after link broke, but the intervals in between got longer and longer, Hyunjin’s forces vaning.

“I got this… Just a few more…” He panted, leaning heavily on his sword to get back up after he’d collapsed onto his hands and knees as the latest link gave under his sword. “I got it. I can do this!”

The dragon grumbled, turning its head to take a closer look at Hyunjin.

“You should take a moment to rest, young Sir. I’m in no rush, I can stand to wait a little longer for these chains to fall off…” Worry sounded in the dragon’s voice, but Hyunjin got up again.

“No, it’s ok. I got this. I can do this. I’ll free you, once and for all.”

And he would, he vowed to himself. He would give it his all. If only he could, just, break more than one link at a time... If only he could control the chains directly-

But, he could! 

Hyunjin felt stupid. Of course; that was the answer! Instead of infusing his sword with magic to break the chains, why not infuse the chains directly?!

Excited and reinvigorated by his sudden brilliant idea, Hyunjin hoisted himself up and went to the closest link holding multiple chains together. Once again, he wedged his sword in the hoop, but instead of trying to force the link open, he focussed on pushing the magic infused in his sword past it, into the chains. And… it worked!

Excited, he pushed harder, focussing more, and more, beyond the sword, beyond the link, along the chains and to the next link, and the next…

He felt his forces depleting rapidly now, but he couldn’t give up now. He had to give more, just a little more. Just a little, a little- 

He closed his eyes as black spots danced along his vision, knelt down as his legs threatened to give out, and pushed ahead. He could feel his consciousness slipping, but he couldn’t allow it to happen! Not now, not when he was so close…!

With one last, final effort and a battle cry (that sounded rather close to a whimper with how little strength he had left), he pushed the last of his magic into the links, and finally, they broke. Simultaneously, all the remaining links crumbled to dust, just as Hyunjin crumbled, too, finally unconscious and spent as he slipped off the dragon’s back. 

He never heard the dragon’s roar as it realized what had just happened, and never felt it as the dragon rolled in place and caught him before he hit the ground, ever so gently, between its taloned claws that should by all rights not be capable of such tenderness.

The next time he registered something, it was cold. Not around him, but inside him. Around him… was actually fairly warm. Really, really warm.

“There… He should be healed enough to wake up any moment now. Just keep on keeping him warm.” Seungmin’s voice floated by in the distance, but Hyunjin felt too tired to chase it, instead trying to get closer to the warmth around him. If only his limbs didn’t feel so heavy, like he couldn’t move them at all!

The warmth around him shifted, and felt as if it got closer, warmer, and he felt content again. He didn’t know what it was under and around him, but it seemed to be… Something mostly smooth but with defined, evenly spaced ridges, rather firm but still malleable enough to be comfortable to lie on. He still couldn’t figure it out until eventually, he gathered enough strength to blink his eyes open. Still, it took him a moment to register where he was, but when he did, he let out a terrified yell.

“Jinnie!” That was Felix’s voice. “Jinnie calm down! You’re safe! Don’t fight!”

Hyunjin wished he had the strength to fight, he really did, but even if he had had it, he wouldn’t have been able to use it. He was completely trapped, pressed against the dragon’s belly with coil after coil of its tail covering him and keeping him immobile. 

“Please don’t grill me…!” Were the first words he managed to utter, and the dragon, whose head had come way too close to his own to assess what was wrong when he’d yelled, reared back.

“Jinnie!” Seungmin scolded him. “Ilex would never do something like that! Especially not after you helped him so much!” And then, soothingly: “He didn’t mean it, Ilex. He’s still pretty out of it and really scared of fire. I’m sure he doesn’t really think you would hurt him anymore.”

Hyunjin started drifting off again. 

Right, there was a dragon. A dragon that he’d helped. A dragon that, somehow, had become his… bed? Something like that. At least it was warm. Even if it could possibly grill him. Or flambée him. Maybe roast him. But all of that was better than the cold, so, did he really care? And, who was Ilex?

The answer to that had to wait until the next time he woke up, and this time it was to a scuffle.

“Please, let me check on him!” Jisung’s voice reached Hyunjin, and then Felix’s strained one.

“Sung, give it a rest. Ilex is just protective of Jinnie. You don’t just barge in on something or someone a dragon is protective over!”

Hyunjin felt something around him tighten, but not uncomfortably so. Still, it startled him and he tensed up. Immediately, whatever was tightening loosened up again. Hyunjin opened his eyes, once again seeing the dragon’s face first.

“Please, don’t be scared.” The dragon pleaded immediately, his voice putting an abrupt end to the scuffle between Felix and Jisung. Hyunjin looked past its head to the other two boys, who just stared at him. They’d literally stopped moving to look over at him, Felix’s arms still wrapped around Jisung’s middle in an attempt to hold him back. 

Hyunjin’s attention was caught by the dragon again as a gust of warm air washed over him, the dragon’s snout now very close to him, while the loops of its tail (which Hyunjin figured were what had served as a makeshift blanket for him) fell away. Mostly, at least, as one coil across his middle still held him in place.

“Seungminnie asked Ilex to keep you warm, Jinnie.” Felix let go of Jisung eventually to turn and talk to Hyunjin. Both him and Jisung came closer, but only until the dragon let out a rumbling noise that stopped them in their tracks. “You over-exerted yourself earlier to free him and passed out. He’s been extremely protective of you ever since.”

The dragon, who Hyunjin slowly pieced together was Ilex, growled again, and Felix raised his hands in defense.

“Hey, I’m just catching Hyunjin up to speed. He might misunderstand you keeping him pinned down like that otherwise!”

Ilex looked from Hyunjin to Felix and back, a little lost, and Hyunjin let out a quiet sigh.

“Right… The chains. I’m sorry if I worried anyone…”

“ _ If?!”  _ Jisung nearly screeched at that, causing Hyunjin to flinch back into Ilex’s flank, and the dragon to growl threateningly again. “ _ If _ you worried anyone? Listen, asshole, there is no  _ if _ in that! - Oh, shut up, Ilex! I have every right to call this idiot out for being a total  _ moron _ and overexerting himself! - I know you only did it to help, but, a little sense for self-preservation has never hurt anyone! Literally!”

Hyunjin scoffed, lightly pushing at the tail keeping him pinned down. The dragon was reluctant to move it, but did anyway, eventually.

“You mean, self-preservation like yours yesterday?” He called Jisung out, who narrowed his eyes at him immediately.

“That was a completely different situation, and you know it!”

“Hey, guys! Let’s all calm down here and not let emotions run high, ok? Some of us are not used to distinguishing between our own emotions and those of others, and we don’t want to get anyone riled up, right?” 

Jisung and Hyunjin snapped to silence immediately at Felix’s call to reason, registering only then how agitated the dragon had become. 

“Ilex, there’s nothing to worry about here. Sung and Jinnie are not enemies, their fighting is the way they show they love each other... or something.” Felix explained with a sigh, and slowly, Ilex calmed down, too. He allowed Felix and Jisung closer, but still curved protectively around Hyunjin.

Carefully, Hyunjin reached out to pet the snout that lay so close to him now, and a deep rumble that somehow resembled a very powerful purr started somewhere in the gargantuan body behind him as the dragon’s eyes slipped closed.

“So… How long was I out for?” Hyunjin asked eventually.

“Not that long, I think.” Felix hummed. “Jisung only just arrived.”

“That’s because I only just got to go to bed! I flew to France today, remember?”

Felix and Hyunjin did, in fact, not remember that the flight had been scheduled for that day.

“So, what time was it in Malaysia when you went to sleep in France?” Hyunjin quickly inquired to divert attention from the fact they had forgotten.

“Three… ish?” 

Felix groaned.

“Ok, so maybe you were out a little longer than I thought.” He addressed Hyunjin again. “But, we still have to go down to the forest to check on the damage done there…”

Hyunjin pushed further against Ilex’s tail, attempting to stand up, just to stumble immediately. Ilex’s purr cut off abruptly as he hurried to cushion a potential fall from Hyunjin with his tail. 

“Not you!” Jisung decided immediately. “You get to rest here, while Felix and I go down to the forest!”

“Like hell I will-” Hyunjin protested, but was cut off by the dragon holding him in place with one of his claws. “Really, now?!”

Hyunjin sounded pissed, and this time for real. 

“Jinnie…” Felix started to reason, but was cut off, too, when the dragon tightened his hold on Hyunjin and lifted him off the ground. One moment later, he was situated on the dragon’s back, and the dragon spread its wings, ready to take off.

“Well, I suppose if you don’t have to walk all the way down there…” Felix conceded. Before anyone else could say anything, the dragon dove off the cliff. 

Hyunjin couldn’t even scream, he just closed his eyes and held on tight as the air rushed past him, keeping still and rigid. He expected to slip off and land in a bloody heap on the ground at any moment now, but nothing of the sorts happened.

“Relax, young Sir Hyunjin. Follow my movements, and nothing can happen to you.” The dragon rumbled, soothing, in a way. 

Slowly, Hyunjin peeled his eyes open to take in his surroundings, and as expected, found himself in the middle of the air. The dragon was just gliding on an air current, wings not moving at all. It was only when Hyunjin managed to force himself to relax that Ilex finally flapped his wings, once, and Hyunjin tensed up again. It took a few tries, but he understood eventually what Ilex meant with following his movements. And then, he discovered how fun it was to fly on the dragon’s back. That was, until Ilex dove for the forest at rapid speed, and this time, Hyunjin screamed. A rumble that might as well have been laughter answered him from Ilex, and Hyunjin shook his head in disbelief when they suddenly landed.

“That was  _ not _ fun!” He scolded, but Ilex only laughed again.

“It sure was!”

Before Hyunjin could retort, Felix and Jisung joined them in their little landing spot. 

“The ground folks have taken up ridding the clearing of the mountain folk corpses. There’s just one they said they don’t dare to get near, since it’s still smoking, and by all means, it shouldn’t.” Jisung informed Hyunjin and Ilex. “We’re on our way to check it out now.”

Hyunjin nodded, slipping off Ilex’s back. He was fully intent on landing by himself, but Ilex caught him and set him down gently instead.

Hyunjin bit back a remark and thanked the dragon instead, and they were off to the artificial clearing. 

What must be several clans of orcs swarmed the opening, ground orcs digging huge trenches to roll the corpses of their cousins from the mountains in, and forest orcs tending to the tree stumps, as well as cleaning the clearing of the chopped down wood. 

Ilex growled aggressively as soon as he spotted the orcs, and the trio froze in place. 

“Uh, Ilex… I can manage on my own from now on, I think.” Hyunjin started nervously. “Why don’t you… Stretch your wings for a little while longer, you know, to really get used to the feel again, after all this time chained down.”

Ilex didn’t like the suggestion, but Hyunjin remained firm, and he eventually took off; only after Hyunjin promised that he’d call for him if he needed him, though.

“How does it feel, to have become a dragon’s treasure, huh?” Jisung needled quietly once Ilex had taken off.

“You know…” Hyunjin answered contemplatively. “I could get used to it, actually. Not having to walk everywhere anymore, especially. Not that I’m too lazy to, like someone else I know, but...” 

Jisung gave him a stink-eye, but before he could retort, Felix stopped them by pointing ahead.

“There. It’s really still smoking.”

Jisung and Hyunjin turned to the charred corpse.

“Maybe, uh, you should be careful…?!” Jisung squeaked when Felix suddenly started approaching the corpse rather quickly.

Felix didn’t listen, though, and suddenly it looked like the earth was boiling around him; just until the orc flipped onto its back, however.

“Felix, don’t-” Jisung started again, but it was too late. 

A tall, deep red flame shot out of the orc’s chest, high into the sky. Felix jumped back, and Jisung and Hyunjin feared the worst as they ran up to him, but Felix was unscathed. Instead, his eyes followed the flame in the sky, as it turned around and came rushing back down. 

The trio had no time to do more than take a few uncoordinated, stumbling steps back, before the flame stopped right before them, repelled by a shield of air Felix had summoned in the very last second. Only then did they realize it was no flame, but a phoenix.

“I did not come to harm you.” A melodic voice came from the flaming bird, sounding like music and birdsong and a raging wildfire at the same time. 

Jisung scoffed, taking a step closer to Felix and behind the shield.

“You have an awful way of showing that!”

The bird managed to give him an unimpressed look, despite its generally expressionless face. 

“I am looking for the elemental.”

Felix cocked his head. “Me? Why?”

“I want to extend my thanks to you, for protecting the forest from the damage I unwittingly wrought. And offer you my help, in gratitude.”

“That’s very kind of you, but-” Felix was about to refuse, when Hyunjin stopped him. 

“Fire can’t hurt you.” He whispered in Felix’s ear when Felix gave him a questioning look. “We’ll have to track down the mountain orcs eventually, and climbing those mountains would be a pain. If you could fly, too…”

Felix’s eyes lit up as he contemplated Hyunjin’s suggestion.

“Could you carry a person?” Felix asked eventually, addressing the bird, and it inclined its head.

“I could carry you, since fire doesn’t harm you.”

Felix couldn’t contain a giddy smile. 

“I have nowhere I need to go right now, but I might in the future, when we try to find the mountain folks and figure out how to stop them. Would you be willing to help us out for that?”

The phoenix extended its fiery wings, flapping them powerfully and sending embers flying that extinguished harmlessly before hitting the ground. “It would be my pleasure! Call for me, whenever you are ready.”

Felix nodded gratefully.

“Thank you. How do I call for you, though?”

“I respond to the call of my element.”

Before Felix could ask what that meant, the bird took off, however, leaving the three of them baffled behind on the clearing. Hyunjin was the first to gather his bearings again.

“Well… Guess we’ll have to figure that out another time. Now, only Sungie needs to find a ride and we’re good to go on a field-trip!”


	6. In Another Realm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have seen, but just in case you haven't, there's a character that's been exchanged for another in this story. Nothing else has changed, so there is no need to reread anything. Just in case you're wondering where Younghyun suddenly came from :)

With Jisung forced into a completely different sleeping schedule for the time being, Hyunjin and Felix were left alone at night. And yet, with them being the only ones together and able to help each other if need be, it was decided they should be the ones advancing with the plan of investigating what the mountain orcs were up to, where they came from, and what their objective was.

Truthfully, Jisung getting severely injured and carrying so much of it with him to the awake world even after Seungmin healed him had scared them all into being a lot more cautious. None of them wanted to imagine what could have happened if Seungmin hadn’t felt the overwhelming urge to nap that day, and what that would have meant for Jisung; nor did they want to find out for themselves.

Therefore, safety was their main priority as they planned out how to proceed with the mountain orcs, and not going alone was a key element. Another key element was getting as much information beforehand, so they knew what they were getting into. 

A talk with the ground orcs revealed to be the most insightful, since their clan housed some memebers that had been enslaved by the mountain orcs before and managed to escape; at least, as far as where to find the mountain orcs went were they insightful. Felix decided to take any and all information about the mountain orcs’ characters and goals with a grain of salt, though.

“You’ve seen what they’ve done to the forest, to the nymphs, to Ilex! And heard what they’ve done to the pegasus and the ground folks. How can you still not believe they are pure evil?” Hyunjin sighed, exasperated, once he and Felix were on the way back to the cave and out of earshot of most other forest creatures.

“I’m not saying they are not evil, I’m just saying there has to be more to it. I can’t imagine them coming all the way down here, so far from home, just to wreak havoc without a major goal in mind. There has to be a reason why they would take that upon themselves.”

“Maybe it’s because they are sickos who thrive off others’ pain?” Hyunjin scoffed, but Felix shook his head, pensive. 

“No, that can’t be the only reason…”

Hyunjin wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t argue further with Felix. Instead, he decided to focus on other pressing issues.

“Have you figured out how to call for the phoenix yet?” 

Felix visibly deflated. “That was next on my to do list. What does it even mean, they’ll respond to the call of their element?”

Hyunjin shrugged, searching the sky above them with his eyes. “I have no idea. Something with fire, probably.”

Felix gave him a droll stare. “Wow, thanks. Now that’s something I would never have thought of by myself!”

“Hey!” Hyunjin defended himself. “I’m just saying! No need to snap at me!”

Felix felt bad instantly, taking Hyunjin’s hand and pulling them both to a stop before hugging the other. 

“I’m sorry, Jinnie… I’m stressed, but I shouldn’t let it out on you.”

Hyunjin hummed as he hugged Felix back, instantly forgiving him. “It’s alright. Maybe Ilex knows something.” 

Felix relaxed into his hold for a moment, before nodding and standing back up. “Will you ask him?”

Hyunjin didn’t let go of Felix’s hand as he pulled him out of the treeline and onto the narrow stripe of bare soil at the bottom of the cliff, perusing the sky with his eyes for traces of the dragon. He spotted him soon enough, cupping his free hand to his face as he called for him. The dragon turned sharply in the air and not a minute later, he landed before them on the ground. 

“Yes, young Sir Hyunjin?” 

Hyunjin took a deep breath, keeping himself from trying to get the dragon to drop the formal speech once again; it was a waste of breath at this point. 

“Ilex, Felix met a phoenix who told him they would respond to the call of their element the other day. Do you know what they could have meant with it?”

Ilex tilted his head, resembling a curious cat as he did.

“You want to call upon them now?”

“Well… Yeah?” Hyunjin looked unsure, but Felix confirmed it with a nod. Again, Ilex inclined his head, before tilting it back and releasing a truly massive stream of fire high into the sky.

Felix felt dread slam into his stomach like a punch, turning to Hyunjin to find him deathly pale, his eyes going glassy.

“Jinnie!” He called, cupping his face in his hands and tilting it so he was looking at him; or at least in his direction. “Jinnie, look at me! It’s ok. There is no fire. You are safe. I am safe. We’re all safe!”

A choked whimper came from behind Felix, and with a look over his shoulder he found Ilex looking at them with a stricken expression.

“It’s ok, Ilex, he’ll be ok.” Felix tried to reassure him, but still it was evident the dragon felt bad, his head bowing all the way to the ground. 

“I-Ilex…” Hyunjin whispered, his eyes focussing as he turned to look past Felix again. Felix slackened his hold slowly as Hyunjin regained control over himself once again, starting past him to approach Ilex’s head. “Ilex, it’s ok…” He tried, crouching to cradle Ilex’s massive head.

“I scared Sir Hyunjin…” Ilex sounded miserable.

“It’s ok. You didn’t. It’s not your fault.” 

While Hyunjin comforted Ilex, the dragon somehow managed to coil his entire body around both Hyunjin and Felix, cradling them with his body, tail and wings and completely shielding them from everything around them. Felix chuckled to himself, amused at the dragon’s dramatics. He was such a huge, fearsome beast, who would have thought he was also such a loving softie? The creature was truly an amazing match for Hyunjin. Now, if only Hyunjin didn’t fall into a terrified stupor whenever he was faced with fire…

Speaking of fire, Felix was sure he could see a warm glow approach through the vaguely translucent panes of Ilex’s wings, and he gently nudged the coils of the dragon’s tail.

“Ilex, can you let me out? I think the one we called for just arrived… Hey, Ilex!”

It took Ilex a moment to register Felix was talking to him, and with a low rumble he uncoiled his tail to allow Felix to slip from the cocoon. Hyunjin stayed firmly wrapped up in the center of it, though, and didn’t seem to mind that at all.

Felix ducked out from under the dragon’s wing, just to be faced with a judgemental looking phoenix sitting on a low branch. For a second, Felix wondered if that didn’t pose a very big fire hazard, but by the looks of it, the phoenix had it under control.

“You called for me?” They asked, in that same melodious voice that sounded like a mixture of music, birdsong and the roar of a wildfire.

“I did. Or rather, I asked Ilex for help. I wasn’t sure what you meant with the call of your element.” Felix admitted, and the phoenix looked even more judgemental.

“It really wasn’t that hard of a riddle…”

Felix felt affronted. “Well, maybe to you, but I am not that used to this world yet that my first conclusion on how to call for someone would be to send a massive fireball to the skies!”

That seemed to make sense to the bird, and they dropped the judgemental look and inclined their head slightly in apology.

“My bad. What have you called me for, then?” They cut straight to business.

Felix cleared his throat, not prepared for that sudden subject change.

“Well, actually… First of all, to figure out how to call you. Second, so we can properly introduce ourselves. I’m Felix, by the way. And third, to let you know that Hyunjin and I need to fly deep into the mountains to find the settlement of the mountain folks, to investigate why they are coming down here to wreak havoc now, and how to stop them.”

The phoenix let out a chirp that sounded somewhat choked, though Felix had no idea if it was stressed, amused, or once again, of judgemental nature.

“I am known as the Lady of the Embers, Faisca. Don’t you need to get pretty close to the mountain folks if you want to find out their goals? To talk to them? Do you think that is a good idea? Why not just collapse a mountain on them?”

Now it was Felix’s turn to turn a judgemental look on the bird. 

“They must have a good reason to come all the way down here and I’m not about to kill a whole clan off without knowing if there is a way we can compromise somehow!” 

His voice bore such dedication and finality that the phoenix didn’t dare contest it again. 

“Very well.” She agreed, her voice bearing a more respectful undertone now. “When were you thinking about heading into the mountains?”

“Next time Hyunjin and I wake up here, as early as possible.”

***

Hyunjin and Felix agreed to sleep early, as early as they could afford, and close in time to each other. They arrived within minutes of each other, and Felix shot a ball of fire to the sky as soon as they stepped out of the cave. With the proper warning, Hyunjin didn’t react to the display, either, and they descended the cliffside quickly. 

Like they’d already gotten used to over the past few days, Ilex was already waiting for them, but Faisca arrived only minutes later, too.

By now, Hyunjin was already more than used to flying on Ilex’s back, though for Felix it was a new experience to rely on another creature to carry him through the air. Faisca was a large bird, and seemed larger the closer he got to her. And still, he had to admit (silently, to himself) he had been skeptical about her ability to carry him in flight. Now, clinging tightly to her shoulders while at the same time wary of pulling on any of her flaming feathers, he thought himself silly for ever doubting her. Her wingspan was wider even than Ilex’s, and while her body was much, much narrower than the dragon’s, it didn’t lack at all in strength compared to Ilex. 

After the initial apprehension, wariness of pulling on feathers or being a burden for the phoenix, and fear of falling off the slender body and tumbling to the ground that flew by many miles underneath them, Felix finally managed to relax and enjoy the ride. He was aware of the air turning colder the further up they flew into the mountains, but the heat radiating from the phoenix kept him cozy and warm. A look over to Hyunjin on Ilex’s back told him that the other wasn’t quite as lucky, as he had to conjure another cloak and warmer clothes and padding for his armour.

“We should be there soon!” Hyunjin shouted over to Felix when he noticed him looking his way, and Felix nodded as he took in their surroundings. He was starting to recognize the landmarks the freed clan members of the ground folks had described; the peak that looked like a face in the distance, the jagged cleft on the side of another snow covered top, the blueish glow of a glacier that ended abruptly over a ledge. Just a few more minutes, and they should be able to see the openings of the mines, and on the other side of the valley-

“Arrows!” Hyunjin yelled suddenly, just as Ilex swerved to the side harshly to avoid the attack. With a sharp cry, Faisca attempted the same, but it was too late. She was struck, and fatally so, Felix could tell as she erupted in a ball of flames under him and quickly faded to ashes. While the flames didn’t hurt him, he was all too aware that he was falling now, no longer carried by her strong wings, and a choked, panicked cry wrung itself out of his throat as he plunged towards the jagged rocks of a mountainside. 

He couldn’t hear anything beyond the roar of the air around him as he fell, nor could he see as the fall sent tears to his eyes to cloud his vision, but he was sure his fall shouldn’t have ended so smoothly, nor should there be arms holding him tightly all of a sudden.

“I got you!” Hyunjin’s voice sounded angelic in his ears, and he clung on to him with trembling hands. “I got you. You’re safe.”

A strained roar came from Ilex in that moment, and Felix noticed they were steadily losing height once his vision focussed again.

“Ilex, what’s wrong?” Hyunjin asked, voice tinged with worry and fear, likely having noticed the same, and the dragon huffed, clearly struggling.

“I am sorry, Sir Hyunjin… Sir Felix… I can’t carry two of you…”

Felix and Hyunjin paled simultaneously.

“Put me down and go get help.” Felix suggested immediately, but Hyunjin shook his head.

“I’m not leaving you alone!” Then, louder. “Land, Ilex! Let us down.”

Ilex let out a distressed cry, trying to gain height again, but it was useless.

“Don’t, Ilex. It’s ok. Set us down, quickly!”

The dragon obeyed, though reluctantly so, and landed in a secluded spot behind some rocks. Felix and Hyunjin slid down to the ground quickly, and Hyunjin cradled the dragon’s snout hurriedly.

“Fly back to the forest and wait for Jisung and Seungmin. Tell them what happened. We’ll be fine, we’ll probably wake up soon, anyway.”

The dragon whimpered, shaking his head. 

“You won’t…” He near whispered, lifting his head to look at the sky. Only then did Felix and Hyunjin notice it was getting darker. “You are out of your realm. You won’t wake up here.”

The boys paled, and even more so when the clamour of rattling armour approaching reached their ears. 

“Go, Ilex! Go get help!” Felix urged, shoving at the dragon, who looked like he still wanted to refuse.

“Yes, go, Ilex! You have to! It’s our only hope!” Hyunjin insisted, too.

Ilex debated for a moment longer, and then, with another distressed roar, he decided to heed their urging and threw himself into the air again. He did swoop down once, letting out a belch of fire that was answered by a series of ugly roars, and then rose high into the sky, out of reach of potential arrows, in a matter of seconds. He hadn’t quite disappeared from view yet when Felix and Hyunjin found themselves surrounded, crude but sharp swords and other weapons pointed at them. It was useless trying to fight, and they were disarmed and taken prisoners in no time. 

It turned out, they really hadn’t been far from the mountain clan’s settlement and the mines, and that was where they were brought without further ado. It couldn’t have been more than half an hour before Felix and Hyunjin found themselves thrown into a cell, and the last flicker of a torch disappeared around a bend in the tunnel, leaving them in total darkness.

“This was not how I imagined our reconnaissance trip going…” Hyunjin sighed, trying to move his aching hands in their binds. “I can’t even summon another weapon. Or anything, really. Do you think we can find some sharp enough rocks to get rid of these ropes? They don’t seem very sturdy to me…”

Hyunjin didn’t get an answer to his question, though.

“Felix?” He asked into the darkness when all he got was silence as an answer. “Felix, you’re there, right? Are you ok?” 

Felix still didn’t answer, however, and Hyunjin felt his heart seize with worry. He forced himself to calm down and listen, and then he heard it, the telltale sounds of flat, way too fast breathing.

“Felix…!” He called again, shuffling closer to where the sounds were coming from until he found the other in the darkness. He still remained unresponsive, even after Hyunjin gathered him in his arms, as well as he could with his still bound hands.

“Felix, it’s ok! I’m here. We’re ok…! Breathe, Lixie. Breathe with me.” He tried to reassure the other, holding him close and guiding him into burying his head against his chest so he could feel his breathing to sync his own up. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” He asked once Felix started to calm down. Felix shook his head slowly, though Hyunjin had no idea which question that was the answer to. 

“Are you hurt?” He asked again, and again, Felix shook his head. 

“Ok, that’s good. That’s something. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Felix took a moment to answer, and when he did, it was only one word. 

“Dark.” He whispered, barely audible. The darkness of the inside of the mountain didn’t harbour many other sounds, though, so Hyunjin heard him just fine in the heavy silence. 

“The darkness scares you?”

Felix nodded in confirmation, and Hyunjin bit his lip in apprehension.

“I am so sorry, Lix. And you can’t use your powers to try and make a flame or something?”

Felix wriggled a little in Hyunjin’s hold, freeing his arms, but soon he let out a frustrated sigh. “No.”

“Damn it…” Hyunjin cursed quietly, and Felix sagged against him.

“Just don’t leave me…” Felix whispered, and Hyunjin tightened his hold. 

“I won’t. I would never.” If it was possible to wrap himself around someone else completely, Hyunjin would have done it, nuzzling his face into Felix’s hair as well as he maneuvered him into his lap, instinctively pressing a little kiss against the top of his head, too. “I’ll be right here, I’m not going anywhere… I just wish we could find something sharp to cut these damned ropes with…!” 

Felix shifted slightly in Hyunjin’s lap.

“My back pockets.” 

“What?” Hyunjin lifted his head to look down at Felix with a confused look, even though it did nothing in the total darkness enveloping them.

“My back pockets. The throwing stars. They took the nunchakus, but they didn’t take the stars.” Felix explained, and Hyunjin’s jaw dropped. Too many thoughts at once rushed through his head: they still had the stars! That was great! But also, Felix couldn’t reach his stars. Hyunjin would have to do that. And they were in his back pockets. In his  _ ass _ pockets. He’d have to-

“I’m not just going to grope your ass, Felix!” He shrieked as the thought fully set in.

Felix actually laughed; full on, despite the situation, laughed at Hyunjin.

“Hey, come on now! My ass is worth being groped!” He uttered with mock affront, and Hyunjin barely contained a screech.

“You heathen! Off; get off me!” he tried to shove at Felix, indignant; not that Felix could get anywhere, since Hyunjin’s arms were still around him and wrists very much bound. Still, Felix sobered up immediately.

“N-no, Jin- Jinnie, please!” 

Hyunjin immediately felt bad, calming himself down and soothing Felix quickly.

“I was joking, Lix. You don’t have to go anywhere. But… Are you really-... I mean. Is it ok-... You don’t mind me, just, reaching into your back pockets? Because-”

“Hyunjin. There are ropes binding our hands and cutting off our blood flow. Do you really think I’ll mind someone touching my ass to get us free?”

Hyunjin snapped his mouth shut, remaining silent and frozen in answer.

“Do you really think I mind  _ you  _ touching my ass, regardless of circumstances, at this point anymore?” He asked further, his voice becoming soft with an edge of insecurity to it. Hyunjin swallowed thickly.

“I just-... I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable…”

Felix sighed, shaking his head against Hyunjin’s chest. “Oh, Jinnie…” Then, though, he sat up, wriggling to get out of Hyunjin's hold. "Let me get up; it'll be easier to get the stars and cut the ropes." He demanded.

Hyunjin lifted his arms to let Felix get up, but kept a hand on him to let him know he was still there, a physical reminder that Felix was not alone in the darkness. In the end, it wasn’t nearly as awkward to fish the throwing star out of Felix’s pocket as Hyunjin had feared; still, he was really grateful for the darkness enveloping them for hiding his flaming red cheeks. 

Once they had one of the stars, it was easy to cut each other’s ropes, and though the blood flowing freely through their hands again hurt at first, it was a relief. Also, cuddling was much easier that way, and it was a lot more comfortable for Felix to curl up in Hyunjin’s lap, hiding his face against his chest to block out the reminder of the darkness around them.

“Someone is coming!” Hyunjin mumbled eventually, an edge of panic in his voice, and Felix could hear it, too. Heavy footsteps approached, and soon the flickering of a light became visible as well, before someone with a torch rounded the last corner and approached their cell. It was a mountain orc, unmistakable. 

“Here.” They grunted, placing a large tray on the ground just outside the bars of their cell. “Eat.” 

They stood back up, exchanging a burnt out torch on the wall out of reach of the cell for a new one and lighting it. Relief flooded Felix at the prospect of some relief from the eternal darkness down here, and with it immediately came his confidence; though, the orc’s not immediate unkindness might have had something to do with it, too.

“Why did you capture us?” He asked, before he could think twice about it. 

The orc turned beady eyes towards him.

“To save our world.” They answered, surprisingly; and, also surprisingly, their grunts were not that hard to understand for once.

“To- To  _ what?  _ How would capturing us save the world?!” Hyunjin sounded just as dumbfounded as Felix felt.

The orc gave them a long and contemplative look before they decided to answer. 

“It is said that our world will stop existing once you find each other in your world. We have to keep you here where you can’t return to your world and meet up, to save this world.”

Felix and Hyunjin were left speechless, and the orc seemed to conclude they wouldn’t ask any more questions for now, too. They nudged the tray again before stepping back. 

“Eat. We can’t have you dying here, either.”

That pulled the boys out of their stupor. 

“Your friends that came down to the forest didn’t seem to mind killing us. Why do you want to keep us alive?” 

Felix received a sharp nudge of Hyunjin’s elbow to his ribs, but he brushed it off, staring defiantly at the orc.

“We need you alive as long as we don’t know if our world will survive if you die. The ones we sent down to the forest wouldn’t think that far, they were just simple warriors; we don’t sacrifice the smart ones to war.”

Once again, that left the two prisoners speechless, and before they could recover this time around, the orc left. 

It took a moment, but eventually movement returned to the two, and Felix detached himself from Hyunjin’s side to inspect the food the orc had brought. It looked edible enough, and Felix figured that if they wanted them alive, they wouldn’t try to poison them. Hesitantly, he tried what looked like dried meat and some sort of bread, and found both surprisingly tasty. He let Hyunjin know as much, and they shared the meal in relative silence. 

“They really just sent those others down to the forest to wreak havoc and set us on their trail, and like absolute fools, we fell right into their trap…” Hyunjin mused eventually. Felix hummed in agreement.

“And like fools, we sent Ilex to warn the others and have them come up here and run into the same trap, too.”

Hyunjin sighed deeply, shaking his head.

“All we can do is hope that Seungmin isn’t as much of a fool as we are and sees through the ploy and keeps himself and Jisung safe.”

“Jisung will arrive before Seungmin, though.”

“I guess we’ll see Jisung again soon, then…”

Felix chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

“You need to be kinder to Sung…”

“I am kind to him. I love him as much as I love you and Minnie. That doesn’t change that he isn’t the brains between the four of us.”

Felix hummed pensively.

“Well… You have a point. I guess the one with brains would be Seungmin.”

Hyunjin started to protest, but gave up before uttering the first sound. “True.” He conceded.

***

Jeongin’s hands were shaking as he pulled up the one contact he trusted to help him on his phone.

“Hyung?” He breathed, swallowing back tears as soon as his brother picked up the phone.

_ “Innie? What’s wrong?”  _

“Hyung, H-Hyunjin… He- He won’t wake up.”

Silence answered him for a moment.

_ “He won’t wake up..?”  _ His brother asked carefully, and Jeongin shook his head, even though his brother couldn’t see.

“No. He’s just… Sleeping. But, he went to bed so early last night, and has been sleeping ever since. He’s usually hard to wake up, but not like this. He doesn’t react to anything. Not to yelling, shaking, wet cloth to the face… Not even a groan or a flutter of eyelids. Nothing. He’s just… Laying there. Breathing, but nothing else. Hyung, I’m so scared....! I’ve been trying to wake him up all morning, and nothing works!”

Another pause.

_ “Innie, please calm down. As long as he’s breathing, it’s not too bad. But if you’re sure you’ve tried everything you can to wake him up, you should call an ambulance. Just to make sure.” _

Jeongin swallowed thickly and a pair of tears rolled down his cheeks as he nodded silently. 

“Ok.” he wiped at his tears. “Ok. I’ll do that. Just-... Hyung, I’m so scared!”

His brother let out a soft sigh, accompanied with a coo.

_ “Oh, Innie… I’m so sorry… It’ll be ok, though. Someone will know what’s wrong and be able to help him, I’m sure of it!” _

Jeongin nodded again.

“Ok. Ok, hyung. I’ll… I’ll hang up now.”

_ “Ok, Innie. Let me know when you have any news, ok?” _

“Ok. I love you, hyung. And I miss you.”

_ “I love and miss you, too. I’m hoping we’ll see each other again sooner than you might think, though! Now go call that ambulance.” _

Jeongin nodded silently again, and hung up. Again, he wiped at more tears that had since fallen, and took a deep breath before calling the emergency number. Someone had to help Hyunjin, someone had to make him wake up!

***

Jisung wasn’t expecting to find anyone there in the dream world with him, both because Hyunjin and Felix were supposedly off in the mountains, and because their sleep schedules were incredibly misaligned now that he was stuck in France and they should be awake and off in the awake world while he was there. What he also didn’t expect was for Ilex to suddenly come hurtling towards him at breakneck speed, landing in a flurry of leaves and dirt and broken branches in a spot that shouldn’t have been fit for his landing.

“Young Sir Jisung! Sir Hyunjin and Sir Felix are in trouble!” He roared before he’d even landed properly, sending Jisung’s heart careening out of his ribcage to somewhere near his ankles.

“They what?! A-aren’t they awake right now?!”

It should be the mid-afternoon for both of them right now! 

Ilex shook his head with a distressed roar, though.

“We went into the mountains, out of this realm. They were captured and are held by the mountain folks. They can’t wake up! You have to save them!”

Jisung felt all the blood drain from his face, at a loss for what to do.

“We, I- Captured?! They can’t wake up?!” He felt panic well up in himself, but stomped down on it. He couldn’t lose his composure now. “We need to help them. We- we need help, to help them. We need- The pact!” He perked up as he remembered what Seungmin had told them, of the pact made between the most fearsome creatures of the forest wanting to band together to fight the mountain orcs. “Ilex, we need to gather the creatures of the pact!”

For a moment, Ilex looked reluctant, but eventually agreed. With a massive jump, he brought himself over the treetops and caught himself on massive wings. 

“Send everyone you can find to the edge of the forest where the mountain folks had their camp! I’ll meet you there!” Jisung instructed, starting on a run through the forest himself. They had to cover as much ground and reach as many creatures as they could in the shortest of times!

***

Minho looked up from his paper to see Seungmin shutting his carefully bookmarked textbooks and putting his things into a neat pile on his side of the coffee table.

“Calling it quits already? It’s-” He checked his phone. “Not even 9PM.”

Seungmin shrugged, stretching his back. “I’m exhausted and my brain is full. Anything I try to revise tonight won’t stick, anyway, so I might as well go to bed.”

Minho’s eyes widened in surprise, before he squinted at his roommate. 

“Something is up with you, isn’t it. Taking naps, going to bed early… Next thing I know, you’re going to sleep in, too!”

Seungmin rolled his eyes, chucking a pillow at Minho’s head, which the older barely dodged. “Leave me alone, sleep is important. What do you care when and how much I sleep, anyway?”

“Pure, unadulterated jealousy.” Minho answered without missing a beat, sending a wistful look towards his own room. “But seriously, are you ok? You’re not coming down with something, are you?”

Seungmin shook his head, heart softening at Minho’s concern. “No, not that I know of. I’m just trying to give my body and brain more rest when they need it to make sure I don’t burn out.”

Minho nodded slowly, pensively.

“Yeah, that would suck… Next thing you know, you’re crashing and sleeping like the dead through the whole day… Please don’t ever do that, that’d freak me out.”

“That’s… oddly specific.” Seungmin frowned. “Well, anyway. Good night!”

Minho nodded, and turned back to his own textbooks before Seungmin even closed his door behind him.

Seungmin fell asleep quickly, just to wake up to the sounds of distant clamour seconds later. Something was up, he just knew it, and he hurried out of the cave immediately. He could see dust rising over the trees somewhere along the edge of the forest, and decided to investigate immediately. He made it a few steps down the narrow path leading to the bottom of the cliff before a shadow fell over him and he recognized the form of a pegasus approaching. 

“Starfall?” he asked as he recognized the white shape on the mare’s black forehead, and the winged horse caught herself in the air before coming too close to the rocks. 

“You ought to hurry, Small But Great Healer. We need your assistance.”

Seungmin raised an intrigued eyebrow, picking up his pace as much as he could while not compromising his descent from the cliff. 

“You can just call me Seungmin, you know… And what is it that you need my help with? What is going on over there with all the dust?”

The mare snorted, in probably the most undignified display Seungmin had ever seen from her; so she did have some form or horse behaviour in that equine body of hers, after all! 

“The participants of the Pact are gathering to assist Sir Jisung in rescuing Sir Felix and Sir Hyunjin from the mountain folks. They were captured outside our realm and are trapped in this world until they return to the forest.”

Seungmin felt dread slamming into his entire being like an avalanche.

“Why did you not lead with that?!” He near shrieked, darting down the side of the cliff at breakneck speed and prompting Starfall to fly closer.

“So you didn’t forfeit all reason and kept yourself safe in your descent, rather than risking your own life needlessly by running over treacherous terrain like a foolish foal!”

She had a point, but Seungmin would rather bite his tongue off than concede it. He did slow down a little, but also took the chance and jumped the last few meters down the slope, breaking his fall with an elegant roll over his shoulder. Starfall landed next to him not seconds later, prompting him to climb onto her back to fly him out to where the most powerful creatures of the forest were gathering.

Seungmin spotted Ilex near the head of the gathering quickly, which was where Starfall was heading.

“Where is Jisung?” Seungmin asked the dragon as soon as they landed, sliding off Starfall’s back.

Ilex pointed wordlessly towards a group of boulders, and Seungmin left for it immediately.

“Sung?” He called once he thought himself close enough he should be heard, but got no answer. “Sungie? Where are you? Please tell me you haven’t woken up already- oh.”

He’d found Jisung, huddled in a crevice between two boulders, mostly hidden from view, where he was clearly wishing to become invisible.

“Sungie…!” He called again, gentler, and crouched down before him. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, prompting him gently to lift his head. “What’s wrong?”

Jisung did lift his head, terrified eyes meeting Seungmin’s. “I can’t do this, Min. There’s- too many. Too many creatures. I can’t talk to them all. I can’t. I-”

Seungmin pulled him into his arms wordlessly. 

“You don’t have to. I’m here now, I’ll do the talking.” 

Jisung let out a shuddering breath, relaxing against Seungmin. “I’m sorry. I knew I had to do this for Lix and Jinnie, but I just couldn’t…! All of these creatures, all looking at me, waiting for me to talk, for me to lead them- I couldn’t do it. I just froze up.”

Seungmin rubbed his back comfortingly, pulling him even closer if possible. 

“It’s ok. Public speaking isn’t for everyone. And leading a whole army isn’t, either. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

With how tenderly Seungmin was holding him, Jisung believed him and was able to find his composure in his arms.

“Let’s go.” Jisung pulled back eventually, standing up. “We’ve wasted enough time, we need to get to Lix and Jinnie as soon as possible.”

Seungmin wanted to protest and reassure Jisung it was ok, but chose to leave it for later. They really had no more time to waste. Quickly, he followed Jisung in standing up and prompted him to climb the boulders they had been hiding behind instead. Their hands interlocked firmly as they stood facing the large crowd of different creatures all gathered to help them rescue their missing friends. 

“You know why we’ve called you.” Seungmin started as soon as the crowd had fallen silent. “Our goal is to rescue Hyunjin and Felix from the mountain folks, and try to make sure they don’t come down here to harm any of the creatures of the forest anymore, any time soon.”

Unexpectedly for Seungmin, cheers broke out in the crowd, rapidly rising to a massive roar, and he felt the world tilt on its axis, rapidly overwhelmed by the noise. He didn’t realize Jisung was turning him around, pulling him into his arms to cover his ears with his hands and small magic dampers until the noise actually disappeared.

“Everyone!” Seungmin felt more than heard Jisung’s sudden shout. “We don’t want them to figure out we are coming just yet. So, if we could keep as quiet as possible for this…!”

As fast as they had risen, the cheers stopped, and Seungmin felt as if he could breathe again. Jisung’s quota of tolerance for crowds and public speaking was used up, however.

“We are heading out in a minute!” Seungmin took over again. “Move as fast and as quietly as you can. If you can’t go on anymore or want to turn back at any point, you are free to do so and won’t be judged. We are not forcing anyone into doing anything they don’t want to. Those who want to help us save our friends and protect the forest, get ready!”

Shuffling and rustling along with a low murmur blanketed the crowd in response while Jisung and Seungmin climbed off the boulder, landing at the feet of Ilex and Starfall. 

“You two and Min should lead through the air.” Jisung mused. “I’ll lead the crowd on the ground.”

Seungmin frowned. “You’ll tire yourself out, Sung…”

“I can be of help, I believe.” A voice sounded behind them, and they found the leader of the wolves butting in. “It would be an honour for anyone to carry Sir Jisung in this quest. I would be beyond grateful if you bestowed that on me.”

For a moment, both Jisung and Seungmin wondered if it was such a good idea to accept the wolf’s offer, but then again, they didn’t have many options and with both Jisung and Ilex somewhat reluctant to pair up, it was, in fact, their best option. 

“Alright. Let’s not stall any longer, then!” Seungmin decided eventually, mounting Starfall once more. 

As soon as Jisung had climbed on the wolf’s back and felt secure, Seungmin, Starfall and Ilex lifting off signalled the start of their journey and got the crowd moving seamlessly.

They travelled quickly, determined and quiet, and soon crossed the borders of the forest realm. Jisung felt unsettled, as if he shouldn’t be there. It took him a moment to realize why, but soon he figured it was because his powers stopped working. He didn’t know when, but he had somehow gotten used to always feeling the emotions of those around him, even if on the outskirts of his consciousness. While he didn’t particularly like his powers, understatement that that was, suddenly missing them didn’t sit well with him, either. It felt wrong, as if he was suddenly left unprotected and vulnerable, as if he’d lost an entire sense that helped him understand the world around him. 

Jisung was so far in his thoughts, lost in his quest to find any remains of his powers, that he failed to notice the crowd in the air led by Seungmin had run into trouble until those around him started to shout warnings.

“Attack! We’re being attacked!”

That startled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up, following the gazes of those around him, to see Seungmin and Starfall fall back behind Ilex as the dragon blocked an attack from what looked like a winged lion from their position. Several of the more vulnerable winged creatures fell back, too, making room for those armed with sharp claws and teeth to engage the lions, but some of the attacking creatures made it past them and headed for the crowd on the ground. 

“Manticores! Take cover!” Jisung yelled as soon as he recognized the creatures, dread surging through him. There wasn’t much down here behind or under which they could take cover from the darts shooting from the manticores’ tails, and soon he could hear the first grunts and pained cries in their rows as those hit by the darts inevitably died within seconds. They couldn’t even fight the manticores with how far out of reach they stayed, and the feeling of being trapped down here didn’t sit well with Jisung at all. 

“Why are they attacking us? They are creatures of the forest like us! They should never even think of turning on you!” The wolf, which Jisung had since learned went by the name of Ran, exclaimed, his usual bravery nowhere to be found. Jisung couldn’t answer that question for him, either, as he desperately watched the creatures around him try to take cover from the shower of darts hailing down on them.

Luckily, the dragons, griffins and harpies accompanying Seungmin and the pegasus were able to get the upper hand on those manticores they engaged and were opening chase on the ones that had dipped below their rows, diverting their attacks. Even so, one particularly tenacious manticore disregarded the attack from above, and having spotted Jisung, headed straight for him. Jisung dismounted Ran, not wanting to put the wolf in danger when the manticore inevitably would open fire on him, but the manticore never made it close enough, anyway. 

Ilex dropped out of the sky like a stone, claws closing around the lion-like body before slamming it into the ground. 

“Wait!” Jisung yelled, to his own surprise, keeping Ilex from tearing into the other creature. Maybe it was the fact the creature had such human-like features, or maybe it was the expression of utter despair and morbid determination on those features that prompted Jisung’s cry. “Don’t kill them!”

Ilex was clearly as confused as everyone around them, but Jisung didn’t pay them any mind as he approached the dragon and manticore on the ground. Ilex might have refrained from trying to rip off the creature’s head, but he didn’t lift much of his weight off their body, and especially the spiky tail remained firmly pinned to the rocks underneath them.

“Why are you attacking us?” Was Jisung’s first question once he reached their side. “Do you know who we are?”

The manticore struggled to turn their head to face Jisung, but Ilex continued not releasing his hold in the slightest.

“I am sorry, Sir Jisung.” Tears welled up in the eyes of the youthful creature. “So sorry… We had no choice!”

Jisung frowned, not having expected neither the tears nor the respectful addressing.

“No choice...? Who took your choice?”

The creature struggled for breath. 

“They have our young… They are holding our young hostage. We were told to capture you and the Healer, or they would kill the cubs. If we let anyone else close to their settlement, they’ll smash our eggs, too…”

Jisung frowned, the gears turning in his head.

“You mean… The mountain folks?”

With vaning strength, the manticore nodded, and Jisung’s frown deepened. 

“What’s going on here?” Seungmin’s voice sounded suddenly as Starfall landed close to Jisung.

“The mountain folks are holding the cubs and eggs of the manticores hostage to force them to attack and kidnap us.” Jisung filled him in. “They’re going to kill the little ones if they fail.”

Seungmin’s frown matched Jisung’s instantly, while the captured manticore apologized profusely once again. 

“That is low…” Seungmin’s voice was filled with burning disappointment, as if he’d actually expected better from the orcs. “We can’t let them hurt the babies. Change of plans!”

The entire crowds listened closely, scarcely a sound being made even as the other winged fighters landed with more captured manticores in their claws. 

“We’ll have to rescue the cubs and eggs, too, and make sure not to jeopardize their safety. Say…” he turned to the manticore in Ilex’s claws. “ Are you the only sentinels guarding the settlement?”

“In the air, yes.” The manticore answered. “There are warriors on the ground, but the mountain folks don’t make their smartest members fight. They shouldn’t be too hard to trick.”

Seungmin nodded pensively. 

“Do you know more about the mountain folks? Like, do you know where they are keeping your young? And other prisoners?”

The manticore nodded, and Seungmin looked relieved.

“Alright. You’ll lead the way, then. We’re going in, just the two of us,” he grabbed Jisung’s hand, “you, Starfall and Ilex. Ilex, let them go.”

Ilex hesitated for a moment, but released the grip of his claws and stepped off the manticore on the ground. They stood up slowly, shaking their fur and wings out, and Seungmin took a step closer. 

“Do you need me to heal you?”

The manticore shook their head. “I’m not injured.”

Incredulous, and somewhat disgruntled murmurs rose in the crowd, and the manticore actually shrank in on themself. 

“We can heal those struck by our poison.” They offered, figuring the source of the dissatisfaction in the crowd out and attempting to quell the animosity. “It’s not too late yet…”

Those were good news, Seungmin decided, and took the chance for peace immediately.

“Let’s do that, then. The manticores stay here and heal those they injured. The rest follows us as inconspicuously as possible. We’re going ahead and infiltrating the settlement to rescue Hyunjin, Felix and the manticores’ young. If we give you a sign, you attack the settlement from all sides to cause enough of a distraction for us to get out; just a distraction, don’t engage in close fight to kill! We don’t want anyone to get unnecessarily hurt! And if we don’t give you any signal, you wait for us to return and we’ll figure out another way to beat the mountain folks back and keep them out of our hair for a while.”

***

“Felix!” Hyunjin’s distressed whisper-shout cut through the silence, shaking the sleeping elemental awake. “Felix, there is something- Fire! Lix, there’s-...!” 

Felix woke up with a start, looking around himself as he hastily tried to clear the sleep haze from his mind and eyes.

“Fire? Where?!” He couldn’t see anything but darkness around them, and the familiar feeling of dread settled in his stomach. He was getting really, really sick of it!

“You! On you! Your clothes!”

Felix looked down on himself, and truly, there was a dim gleaming on his clothes, all over the inside of his legs and up the whole front of his torso. He felt the warmth, but it didn’t feel like his clothes were on fire, even when the gleaming became stronger and brighter. And then, suddenly, a big flame erupted from his body, shooting to the other side of the cave, and massive wings flapped in the enclosed space. 

Hyunjin screamed, falling to the ground and scrambling as far away from it as he could, but Felix stared in awe before hurrying to Hyunjin’s side, the relief that it was finally no longer dark around them bringing tears to his eyes.

“Jinnie! Jinnie, it’s ok. It’s Faisca! She came back!” Felix laughed, hugging Hyunjin tightly in both joy and an attempt to comfort the other. “She must have been reborn from the ashes on my clothes!”

Faisca flapped her wings a few more times before landing on the ground and looking around, unimpressed.

“Underground? You got yourselves trapped underground? How distasteful…”

Felix couldn’t help but laugh, relief clouding his judgement.

“Oh, come now! It’s not like we chose this place!” Hyunjin whined, though, finally regaining his bearings as he consciously registered the presence of the fiery bird. 

Faisca shook her feathers, eyeing the bars of the iron door to their cell with disdain, but said nothing else. Felix approached her carefully, holding a hand out to her as he got closer to her warmth and light. Finally, she turned her attention away from the bars and looked at Felix, inclining her head and bumping it against Felix’s outstretched hand. 

“I am sorry for failing you. I hope your landing wasn’t too rough.”

Felix shrugged, as if he hadn’t felt the fear of a lifetime while plunging through the air. 

“Ilex and Hyunjin caught me.” He informed her nonchalantly. “Ilex should be back with help soon. Hopefully. Do you think you can help us get out of here?”

The phoenix eyed the iron bars warily again.

“It looks like good steel. It would take me too long to melt it. But I can get out of here and show your friends the way!”

Felix nearly hurried to tell her no, that wasn’t necessary, just to keep her from leaving him behind in the cold and darkness again. He caught himself in time, though.

“Y-yeah. That… That would be helpful…”

Faisca turned way too knowing eyes on him, before sticking her head under her wing and coming back up with a glowing feather in her beak. Shoving it into Felix’s hands, she turned into a ball of pure fire and shot past the bars keeping Felix and Hyunjin prisoner, and down the tunnel of the mine, out of view. The feather continued glowing, filling the cell with warmth and light, though, and Felix with immeasurable relief. 

***

Jisung cowered to the back of the manticore as the creature darted along the side of the mountains, so close to the rocks his legs almost touched them as they flew past. Starfall with Seungmin was right behind them, copying the manticore’s tactic, and so did Ilex. From the backs of their mounts, Seungmin and Jisung could see the entrances to the mines looming ahead, and the main settlement on the other side of the wide valley. The manticore made no move to head to the settlement, though, aiming for the mines instead. With little warning, it landed in one of the larger openings, hurrying inside quickly to make room for Starfall and Ilex to land.

“We’re in one of the lesser used tunnels now, but it connects to the busy ones. The ones where our cubs and eggs are held, as well as where they are most likely holding Sir Hyunjin and Sir Felix, are guarded. We won’t get to them without a fight.”

Seungmin nodded pensively, while Jisung’s shoulders dropped.

“These mountains have more holes than a swiss cheese… How are we supposed to find them in this maze?”

“They are prisoners, just like Eph’s cubs and eggs. It’s not so farfetched to assume they might be held captive close to each other. Let’s find the babies first.” Seungmin suggested, much to the manticore’s relief.

“I know the way.” He announced, taking a few steps further into the mountain. “I can feel them.” 

They didn’t question it, and seeing Jisung and Seungmin wordlessly follow the manticore, Starfall and Ilex didn’t speak up, either. 

The mines were dark, and while the manticore didn’t need light to see and move around in the tunnels, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of them. Neither Jisung nor Seungmin’s powers were of any use when in need of a source of light; not that it would have helped them any if they were, since they were currently cut off from access to their powers anyway. The only one among them capable of producing light was Ilex, but it took some trial and error before he figured out how to maintain a steady glow of fire in his throat without releasing a bright and hot ball of flames into the tunnel before them. That practice, however, resulted in him getting a throat ache over time, and they had to rest a few times for Seungmin to heal him before they could proceed.

Eventually, they reached the parts of the mines that were busier, finding mountain orcs supervising other, enslaved orcs in their work, as well as resting groups of both. They tried hard to avoid either, though the closer they got to where Eph announced the manticore young were held, the higher the density of patrolling guards became, and the harder it was to stay undetected.

And finally, they were spotted, running head first into a whole group of five mountain orcs. Jisung and Eph attacked together, recovering first and using the small advantage of the moment of surprise in their favour. Two orcs fell immediately, struck down by Eph’s darts, and Jisung didn’t know how, but a third fell by his hand with a missing throat. Of the other two, one was a coward, trying to flee, but Eph caught up and made quick work of it, while the other was too brave and ran straight into the path of Ilex’s open maw. 

The scuffle was over quickly, but by no means silently.

“We have to hurry, quick! It won’t be long before we are found out and the alarm is sounded!” Seungmin commanded, and they broke into a run down the dark tunnels. Until they suddenly weren’t so dark anymore, flashes of fire dancing behind a bend in the tunnels ahead and forcing them to slow down. 

“Catch the fucking bird, you useless maggots!” Came a bellow from up ahead, followed by a screech that sounded both melodious like music and like a roaring wildfire.

“Felix’s phoenix!” Jisung exclaimed quietly, with Ilex short on his heels as he, too, recognized the sound. They reached the bend in the tunnel at the same time as another bright flash of fire illuminated the scene of three orcs trying to box in and catch the bird. 

Jisung ducked out of instinct before Ilex added his own fire to the mix, a massive, rolling front filling the whole tunnel and burning the three orcs to a crisp before they even knew what had come over them.

Faisca let out an indignant shriek, charging at the group behind the bend before recognizing them and stopping her attack abruptly. 

“I had it under control! Though it took you long enough!” She trilled indignantly at Ilex, before addressing Seungmin and Jisung a tad more respectfully. “Sir Felix and Sir Hyunjin are this way!”

They followed her without question as she shot down the tunnel ahead of them, though she didn’t seem to mind being spotted as much. More and more burned and mutilated corpses of orcs were left in their wake, and Jisung began to fear they would never make it out of here, even if they found Felix and Hyunjin and the baby manticores, because there would be no way the other orcs wouldn’t catch on and follow the trail of their dead comrades to capture or kill them as well.

“Not far now! Just up ahead, down this tunnel!” Faisca announced eventually, thankfully, and Seungmin called them to a stop. 

“We’ll take it from here! Why don’t you head on out and give the signal to our troops to start the distraction maneuver?”

Faisca gave him a displeased look. 

“Signal? Troops? Distraction maneuver?”

Seungmin took a deep breath for patience. “They are lying in wait around the valley, they’ll know what’s going on. Just… make some grand display of fire and let out an attack cry or something for all to see, and they’ll catch on.” Hopefully, he added in his mind, though not out loud. They hadn’t discussed what kind of signal they would be using, after all. 

Faisca didn’t seem pleased, but also not like she would dare disobey Seungmin, and rushed past them the way they had come.

“I hope she makes it and doesn’t get caught. She’s a real…” Jisung shook his head, at a loss for words. 

“Firecracker?” Seungmin supplied with a grin, and Jisung chuckled. 

“Yeah. You could say that.”

With the way once again only illuminated by Ilex’s dimly glowing fire, they advanced down the tunnels until Eph stopped abruptly.

“Our cubs… They are near!” Emotion choked his voice, and Jisung felt compelled to put a comforting hand between his shoulders.

“Where?” He asked softly, encouraging Eph to find them. Eph didn’t have to be asked twice, surging ahead and down a different tunnel than the one Faisca had indicated, narrow and low. Jisung followed him, while Seungmin hesitated.

“Ilex, wait here. We’ll be right back.” He decided eventually, hesitating again before addressing Starfall. The look she gave him made him hold his tongue, letting the pegasus decide for herself if she wanted to stay or follow. To his surprise, she followed. 

Further surprise came at the lack of guards down the tunnel, though by the time Seungmin emerged from it as well, he found Eph and Jisung clearing the last of a group of three out of the way to a heavy door.

Eph jumped blindly at the door, scratching at it, though it withstood his attack almost without a scratch.

“Eph, let us…” Seungmin tried, though Eph didn’t listen. Soon, soft mewls were heard from the other side of the door, and Eph’s scratching only became more frantic.

“Ah-ha!” Jisung exclaimed eventually, holding up a bundle of keys triumphantly that he’d dug out of the armour of one of the slain orcs. “Got them. Eph, stand back!”

Eph shuddered at the command, but backed away from the door, even if visibly reluctant. Jisung approached instead, quickly trying out the keys and finding the right one to open the door. The room behind it was barren, and almost no bigger than the door itself. In the far back, something ducked into the shadows, though. It wasn’t until Eph pressed past Jisung that the something moved, and then it did so at lightning speed. Two small bundles of fur with wrinkled wings shot out of the shadows towards the (purring?!) manticore.

“Ephi, Ephi!” 

Seungmin and Jisung exchanged a part bewildered, part amused, part endeared look as the manticore dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back like any cat they could imagine and let the two cubs climb over him.

They watched for a short moment, but as soon as Eph had made sure the two were unharmed, he stood back up and herded them towards the door. The two obviously didn’t agree with that, and Eph had to be more insistent, his purring morphing to a low growl. 

“So, we found the cubs. Are these all of them?” Seungmin asked, and Eph nodded. “What about the eggs?”

Eph’s gaze wandered to a corner where three smooth, sandy grey rocks seemed to lay. 

“Those are it?”

Eph nodded, though stepped in Seungmin’s way as he tried to approach them.

“Eph, we’ll have to carry them out. I don’t know about you, but it looks like we’re the only ones able to do so here.” Jisung reasoned, and the manticore stepped down. Seungmin finally approached them, feeling the hard surface of two of them, and a much softer one on the third. Without a word, he took off his cloak and tied it into a pouch into which he deposited the two hardened eggs, asking Jisung for his own to proceed in a similar manner with the third, soft egg, and tied it securely around his body. The other two, he approached Starfall with, who looked as if she would rather crush both the eggs and Seungmin’s head under her hooves than let him get any closer to her with them.

“Starfall, please. I can’t carry all three of them and Jisung and Eph have to be able to fight. We can’t be picky now.”

Starfall didn’t look pleased, not at all, but allowed Seungmin to secure the makeshift saddlebags to her back; though not without murmuring something about not being a packing mule. Seungmin graciously ignored her, and soon they were on their way back to Ilex. 

It turned out they had been just about two bends in the tunnels away from Felix and Hyunjin, and Jisung practically flew ahead towards the cell-door as if he had wings of his own.

“Jinnie! Lix!” He shouted, reaching through the bars.

“Sung!” Hyunjin was the first on his feet, darting forward to grab Jisungs hand, and then the whole boy in a hug through the bars.

“Jisungie!” Felix sighed as he joined their hug. “You found us!”

“We did! Let’s get you out of here!” Jisung wriggled out of the hug, fumbling with the keys. The more he tried, the more desperate he got, though, fearing the right one was not among them. He had merely three keys left, though, when Ilex’s patience snapped and he tore through the bars as if they were butter with his claws.

“You could have done  _ that _ before I got blisters on my hands from trying out all the keys!” Jisung griped, but it went unheard as Hyunjin ran towards the dragon with a happy cry, flinging himself around his neck in a tight hug. Ilex was at the very least as radiant as Hyunjin, wrapping his whole body around the boy, while Jisung took the chance to properly hug Felix, too. Not for long, however.

“Ok, lengthy emotional reunion cuddles are postponed until after we are all safely out of here!” He announced, earning a growl from Ilex and a corresponding laugh from Hyunjin.

“Let’s go, I’m not leaving you again, don’t worry.” Hyunjin reassured the dragon, and he finally let go of him to join Seungmin, Starfall and Eph with the two cubs, who had fallen behind.

“Eph, can the cubs fly yet?” Jisung asked as soon as they were reunited, and Eph shook his head.

“Eph? As in, short for Stephen? Seriously?” Hyunjin murmured, not too quietly, as he let go of Seungmin and their (very quick) reunion hug. The other three humans burst into laughter, while the creatures looked on in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” Eph asked eventually, piecing together that their amusement came at his expense.

“Ah, nothing, really.” Jisung tried to reassure him. “It’s just… Stephen is a name. A… very  _ human _ name.”

“My name is not Stephen, though?” The manticore continued, still confused.

“That’s a relief!” Felix laughed. “What is your name, though? Just Eph?”

“Ephioulus.”

The four of them nodded earnestly, rolling the name over in their minds.

“That’s a very nice sounding name. Very fitting, too, I’d say.” Jisung conceded placatingly. “Does it have a meaning?”

“King of the Pink Toe Beans.”

Deathly silence settled over the group, only interrupted by a small whimper as Hyunjin hid his face against Ilex’s flank and pulled the dragon’s wing down in front of himself to hide behind.

“What? What’s wrong?” Eph asked, even more confused than before.

“That- That’s a very- Very, uh-” Jisung tried, he really tried, with all his might, to keep a straight face.

“Cute name!” Felix ruined it, though, cooing loudly.  _ “So  _ cute! Do you really have pink toe beans?”

“Felix…!” Seungmin tried to reign the other in, but he was struggling to keep his composure himself. Eph didn’t seem to take offense, though, even if his confusion remained.

“Of course! All of them are! I’m the only one in my pride with all pink toe beans. It is said that those with all pink toe beans are destined for greatness!” He explained proudly, and Jisung cursed internally at how adorable the deathly creature in front of him was.

“Well, I reckon it’s true, Eph.” Jisung composed himself first. “You really are destined for greatness. You’re saving your pride’s cubs and eggs right now, after all! Now, shall we go?”

Before long, the group emerged out of one of the lower entrances to the mines, and right into the middle of a battlefield. The roars, clangs, screams, screeches and numerous other sounds quickly overwhelmed Seungmin, his breathing going shallow and becoming erratic. Felix was the closest to him and assessed the situation within a heartbeat, covering the healer’s ears with his hands to block the worst of the sounds. Ilex wasn’t far behind Felix, and made to shield him from the sounds of the battle, too. Surprisingly enough, the dragon’s wings and body made for a pretty sound-proof barrier, and Seungmin was able to calm down behind it.

“If you don’t mind me, can I stay here, too?”Jisung ducked quickly behind the wings, too. “There are entirely too many creatures out there, and I know, I just know, as soon as I join the battle, all eyes and expectations will be on me, and I just-” He broke off as Hyunjin pulled him into a quick hug. 

“Stay with Min and Lix, Sungie. Help with the cubs. I’ll sort what’s going on out there.”

Hyunjin ducked out from under Ilex’s wings, addressing the dragon directly.

“I know we’d make a terrific duo in battle, Ilex, but right now, I need you to stay safe and keep my boys safe for me!” 

Ilex looked reluctant, but not like he would dare disobey Hyunjin. Hyunjin prepared to turn towards the battle, when he felt soft fur against his side. Eph stood to his left, and a cry from above signalled Faisca’s arrival to his right, both prepared to protect him come what may as he picked up a discarded weapon from the ground and ran into the fray.

The battle, a massive act of chaotic diversion without any order whatsoever, quickly turned in their favour with Hyunjin’s arrival and precise orders. In no time, the mountain orcs understood their disadvantage and started to flee. Hyunjin led their pursuit while simultaneously ordering coordinated retreat of their own troops. 

The mountain orcs fled, barricading themselves in a valley far up in the mountains where Hyunjin had no intention of following them to. Instead, he led the troops that had come with him back down, catching the end of their troops after they’d freed whatever enslaved forest creatures they’d found in the mines. He hitched a ride with Ran, the leader of the wolves, eventually, to catch up to Jisung, Felix and Seungmin in the middle of their convoy.

“Jinnie!” Jisung was the first to spot him, skipping over to hug him. “Everything ok? Did you get hurt? Anyone else on your squad?” He looked worriedly past Hyunjin to Eph and Faisca, who merely looked a bit winded, at best.

“No, everyone is ok. No dead or injured. What about the rest?”

“Some injuries, some worse than others, no deaths. The manticores took the brunt of the worst attacks, and it looks like they can withstand just about anything.” Seungmin informed him, while Eph’s chest swelled just that little bit more with pride. Jisung beamed at the manticore, too, patting him on the head appreciatively. The manticore blinked, confused, and nearly tripped in his bewilderment, but then decided to just go with it and pushed his head into Jisung’s hand for more pets; which Jisung gladly provided.

They walked slowly, letting the troops behind them pass until they were behind them all. Then, Felix had them stop and wait for him. It took a moment for them to understand why, but they soon did when a deep rumble started in the ground, growing louder and louder, until the sides of two of the mountains flanking the valley started moving, collapsing on themselves. The rumbling and crashing of dirt hitting stones hitting rocks hitting boulders hitting even bigger boulders was deafening, and the cloud of dust risen by the whole commotion stood high in the sky over the valley once the thousands of tons of earth came to a rest.

“That should deter them for a while…” Felix mused, dusting his hands off as if he’d actually dirtied them. Looks of awe were directed his way, but he overlooked them on purpose, prompting the small party to continue their journey back to the forest.

“We’re close to the border.” Seungmin remarked eventually. “We’ll probably wake up really soon after we cross it.”

That prompted the small group to stop again, huddling together.

“I know I’ve been in here for way longer than I should have, but… I don’t want to go just yet. I want to stay with you guys… All of you. It’s… It’s so nice to have all of you together…” Felix pouted as he voiced what they all thought.

“Our sleep schedules will be so messed up now…” Hyujin flinched. “Oh god, my roommate…! He’ll be worried sick!”

Felix shrunk in on himself, too. “My cousin, too… If he hasn’t died of a heart attack yet, he’s probably close… Shoot, I really want to stay here, but... I can’t do that to him. I have to get back!”

While the others talked, Jisung had paled considerably. 

“Sung, you ok?” Hyunjin asked when he noticed, but Jisung shook his head.

“We had such important meetings today… What if my boss missed them because of me? What if he went but wasn’t prepared enough? What if I’m at fault if the deal with the french people fell through? Oh no, no no no! Hyung was counting on me, what if I ruined everything, what if it’s my fault hyung has to wait so much longer before we can move the company and he can finally live with his b-”

“Ji, breathe!” Felix interrupted him, pulling him into a hug. “It’ll be ok. It’s not your fault. None of this is. Let’s just head back, ok? We’ll figure everything concerning the awake world out after we wake up, ok?”

Jisung took a deep breath, nodding feebly, and Felix took his free hand in his, while his other remained buried in Eph’s mane. 

They walked, not too slow but also not too fast, dreading but also looking forward to crossing the border and waking up again soon.

The transition was slow, the return of their powers a process, and then Felix felt them, the telltale signs that he was waking up.

“Guys, I’m going…” He announced, and Jisung held his hand tighter. They stopped, and Felix hugged the next closest person to him, Seungmin.

“Messed up sleep schedules can be a blessing, too… Hope to see you again, in sixteen hours.” With that, he flickered and disappeared. 

The remaining three stared at his spot for a moment, before converging in a hug.

“Jokes aside, let’s try to meet up in sixteen hours, ok?” Hyunjin asked with a cracking voice, and the others nodded mutely. “I’ll miss you. Stay safe. Good luck, Sung.” And he flickered, and disappeared.

“I’m leaving, too…” Jisung announced, and Seungmin hugged him a bit tighter.

“You got this, Ji.” He whispered in his ear, and was that… Was that a kiss against his temple? Jisung was fairly sure it was, before the world faded to black around him.

Seungmin was the last in the dream world, alone, surrounded by the four mounts. 

“Lets go; I should still have around an hour, and we need to get the cubs and eggs to safety and back to your pride, Eph. Faisca, can you help Ilex do rounds and send the injured my way? There’s still a lot to do…!” 

He had to stay busy, not think too much about it, what he’d just done, what he felt for those boys he had so rarely met, but-...

Right; Eph’s cubs! The injured! Priorities!

***

Felix blinked his eyes open languidly, not recognizing the room he was in, nor the bed, the blankets… Nothing. Except… Wait. Was that Chan?

“...I’m so sorry, babe, I know you’re going through- it feels selfish, but- I just don’t know what to do. What do I do, if he doesn’t wake up? What- He’s all I have left, all…”

Felix flinched; it didn’t take a genius to figure out Chan was talking about him. 

“I’m trying, I am…! It’s been fourteen hours, though, and he just isn’t reacting, there’s- there’s nothing…!” A sob could be heard, and Felix decided he couldn’t let this go on. He couldn’t stand hearing Chan suffer for another second, and so he decided to do the first thing that came to mind. 

He sat up, feeling a little light headed but otherwise fine. It didn’t get worse when he got up, so he let go of the bed and made his way across the room, to the half open door.

“Channie?” he called out quietly, as soon as he spotted his cousin slumped on a chair in the hallway, tears tracking down his exhausted face as he was listening to the reassurances his boyfriend was likely telling him.

His head whipped up at Felix’s quiet call, though, phone clattering to the chair next to him as it slipped out of his hand, and a piercing yell ripped from his throat. Fractions of a second later, he was wrapped around Felix, sobbing noisily, wetly, into his shoulder, nearly crushing the younger.

“Channie, it’s ok…” Felix choked out, half because of the overwhelming emotions, half because Chan’s crushing hug made breathing somewhat difficult. “I’m ok… I’m here…”

***

Younghyun hung up his phone, staring at the screen longingly for a while. Eventually, he managed to compose himself, shaking himself out of his daydream before he stepped through the door next to him, into the room where-

Where Jisung was frantically looking for who knows what; by the looks of it, probably clothes.

“Han Jisung! What do you think you are doing?!” He nearly shouted, almost startling the poor boy out of his skin.

“Hyung!” Jisung shrieked, continuing to look around himself. “I am so sorry! So, so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’m- I’ll be ready in a second, I promise…! Oh god, I’m so sorry! You’re going to fire me, aren’t you, I messed up, I deserve to be fired, hyung, I-”

He was cut off when he found himself wrapped up in Younghyun’s strong arms all of a sudden.

“H-hyung?”

“You’re awake. Oh, Jisungie, you’re awake! I am so glad, so, so glad…!”

Jisung swallowed thickly, patting Younghyun’s back awkwardly.

“I- I am. And I’ll be ready in a minute, hyung, if you don’t fire me. When’s the meeting? Can we still make it?”

Younghyun chuckled wetly, shaking his head, though.

“There is no meeting, silly. Do you really think I care about some stupid, meaningless meeting, when my Jisung, my little _ brother _ , is- is just not waking up, for some inexplicable reason?” He sniffled, wiping at his nose and eyes over Jisung’s shoulder.

Jisung was nothing short of in shock, though.

“B-but… The deal with the french investors… The expansion of the company… M-moving the headquarters-”

Younghyun shook his head, pulling back to look at Jisung as he cupped his face and made him look up at him.

“No deal in the world means anything to me if you’re not by my side to take the steps with me, Jisung. All that matters is that you are awake and well again. Don’t worry about any meetings, ok?”

Jisung slumped slightly in Younghyun’s hold, letting the other gently manhandle him back into bed, although he felt anything but tired. 

“So, you- you’re not mad?” He tried tentatively, and Younghyun huffed, shaking his head.

“I could never be mad at you.”

***

Seungmin woke up to the door to his room banging open.

“What the hell, hyung?” He groaned, glaring at Minho, who slumped against the wall next to his door.

“Oh, good, you’re awake!” Immeasurable relief sounded in his voice and entire posture.

“Yeah? With you banging doors and shit at ass o’clock in the morning, how can I not be?”

Minho rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, suddenly looking wary at all the highly uncharacteristic swearing coming from Seungmin and avoiding his gaze.

“It, it’s just… I just talked to my brother, and-...” He broke off as he caught Seungmin’s exasperated look. “You know what, never mind. It- It was a stupid thought. I just, I’m just glad you’re awake, and, well, here, and ok, and, uh- I’m making breakfast, come out when you’re ready!”

With that, he stumbled out of the room hastily, leaving a bewildered Seungmin staring blankly at the spot he’d just been in behind.

What had that just been all about? 

Seungmin sighed, falling back into his pillows. Today was going to be a long day. A very,  _ very  _ long day. Sixteen excruciatingly long hours!

A small smile stole itself onto his face, though; sixteen hours, and then he’d be together with  _ them _ again. He couldn’t wait!


	7. Torn Together

While Seungmin’s sleep schedule wasn’t affected after the ordeal with the mountain orcs, the others’ was non-existent anymore. Felix and Hyunjin had both slept through their days, for around 24 hours, and after being cleared from the hospitals they had ended up in and going home, sleep wouldn’t come to them so soon. Jisung, while only having slept into the afternoon but combined with the remains of jetlag, stayed up until the oddest hours. It was afternoon again when Felix and Hyunjin crashed and woke up in their cave again, only moments apart.

“Good morning, sleepy heads!” They were greeted by Jisung, who sat at the bottom of the bed pile with a lazy grin.

“Shouldn’t we be saying that to you, since you’re already here?” Felix commented, wiping sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. 

Jisung shrugged, shuffling forward to wedge himself between Felix and Hyunjin in the middle of the pile and pulling Felix back down again, too. Felix didn’t mind at all, feeling too lazy to get up from the comfortable spot, anyway.

“What do you reckon happens if we are still in here and Seungmin comes?” Hyunjin mused then, turning on his side and propping himself up on one elbow to look at Felix and Jisung. “Will he just land on top of us?”

Jisung grinned as a thought formed in his mind. “I think we should stay here to find out. For science.”

Felix chuckled at that, shaking his head at the other. “Your laziness is showing, Ji. Aww, don’t pout!” He poked at Jisung’s cheek, laughing, before hugging the other. “You may be lazy, but so am I. I’m really not opposed to a night without adventure, and just rest.”

“Unbelievable. You sleep for 24 hours and still want to rest!” A new voice sounded from behind Felix, and Felix whipped around. 

“Minnie!”

“Hi-... Oof!” Seungmin’s greeting was cut short as he was smothered in a hug. He did not complain, though, hugging Felix back. A slow smile spread on his lips as he caught sight of Hyunjin and Jisung behind Felix, too. “You’re all here…!” He was aware he sounded breathless as his chest felt like it was filling with butterflies.

“Seungminnie! Hi!” Hyunjin surged forward, purposely flopping over Jisung and squashing him underneath him as he reached out to hug Seungmin over Felix, as well.

“Ouch! Get  _ off _ me, you giant- fucking-  _ giant!”  _ Jisung complained loudly, trying to shove Hyunjin off, to no avail. It wasn’t until Felix let go of Seungmin and pushed back that Hyunjin receded again.

“Jinnie, don’t make pancakes out of my Sungie, please! I need him whole and not flat.”

Hyunjin grinned as he sunk back into his spot, easily deflecting Jisung’s retaliatory punches as the world they were in wouldn’t let him hurt him.

“Ooops, didn’t see you there, pipsqueak!”

“Pip-... Oh, it’s fucking  _ on _ , you overgrown noodle man, I swear-...!” Jisung surged forward, lunging at a wildly cackling Hyunjin, but his punches and kicks only met air as he was held back by Felix.

“Ji, let go, you can’t hurt him anyway…” Felix laughed, and Jisung huffed.

“I can’t, but the cave can! Let me go! I swear, I will make dumplings out of him…!”

Felix laughed again, tightening his hold on Jisung and hooking his chin over his shoulder with a grin. “Cute.”

Jisung stopped his squirming, leaning out of Felix’s hold slightly, just enough to peer at his face so close to his own.

“Hey! Are you making fun of me?! I  _ can _ and  _ will _ hand this poor excuse for a baby orc his ass on a platter!”

Felix nodded seriously, but his amusement was still evident in his expression. “I know, I know. I believe you. But you’re still cute.”

Jisung stared at Felix as if he had lost his mind, then stopped his struggling altogether, face turning into a pout.

“It’s just not fair, though… Why does Hyunjin get to crush me under his heavy ass but I can’t even retaliate! This world is not fair!”

A hand came forth to pat Jisung’s other shoulder, currently not occupied by Felix’s head, and Seungmin shuffled forward to sit next to the pair. 

“That’s because Hyunjinnie was squashing you  _ lovingly.”  _ He explained patiently, earning himself a glare from Jisung. 

“I want to punch his stupid grin off his face  _ lovingly!” _ Jisung grouched, but only got laughs in return from the other three.

“As if, Ji. You do love him!” Felix chuckled, and Hyunjin scooched closer again, too, throwing his arms around both of them. Felix and Jisung both complained loudly as he crushed them, but when he let go, Felix wouldn’t let him go far.

“Hug us properly, overgrown noodle man!” He demanded, and with a grin, Hyunjin complied. That took the fight out of Jisung, the genuine affection and loving banter surrounding him affecting him through his powers. 

“I didn’t actually hurt you, did I, Sungie?” Hyunjin asked once he pulled back, and Jisung shrugged, indifferent.

“Nothing lasting. You  _ are _ heavy, though. I demand compensation!” And with that, he surged out of Felix’s hold and threw himself onto Hyunjin, knocking him back into the pillows as he hugged him.

Felix and Seungmin laughed, watching the pair.

“Idiots, the lot of you! Gah, I do love you guys, though!” Seungmin chuckled, shaking his head. He didn’t realize what he’d said until he noticed the way the other three were giving him suddenly. “W-what? Well… It’s true. I do love you guys.”

Jisung sat up slowly, helping Hyunjin up as well as he kept the other’s arms firmly wrapped around his middle as he did.

“Do you… Do you mean that in a bro kind of way, or more of a, you know…” He gestured vaguely, indefinitely, with the free hand that was not holding on to Hyunjin’s arms around his waist. He was understood anyway.

Seungmin shrugged slowly.

“I’m… not sure, actually. I’m no expert in this. And we haven’t spent  _ that  _ much time together yet, but considering the amount of time we  _ have _ spent together, the way I’m feeling is… I don’t know. Probably more than what I  _ should _ feel.”

A short silence encompassed them, until Felix nodded sagely. “Yup. He does love us, guys!” He then turned to pat Seungmin’s shoulder with a serious expression. “It’s ok, Minnie. We love you too.”

Seungmin rolled his eyes, shoving at Felix, but not putting any strength into it. Felix chuckled, rocking back to put an arm around Seungmin and pulling him into a loose hug, too. Seungmin let it happen.

“I can tell you are  _ all _ feeling extremely mushy, and it is not helping my own sappiness.” Jisung declared then. “I guess it’s safe to say we are all a little too whipped for each other for people who’ve only ever met in their dreams.”

Hyunjin snorted quietly, pulling Jisung back to lie against his chest while he hooked his chin over his shoulder. 

“Can you blame us, though? Considering what we’ve gone through together in this time we’ve known each other in this world? I guess that would manage to bring any group of people closer together… And it doesn’t help that you’re all really cute and just… great people in general.”

Jisung chuckled, reaching up to pat Hyunjin’s cheek lightly. “And that coming from someone who wanted to kill us for invading his house and world at first… Hear hear!”

Hyunjin tightened his hold around Jisung’s middle until the younger let out a choked noise. “Shut it, pipsqueak, and accept my love!”

“Your love is suffocating; quite literally!” Jisung wheezed, but made no move to extract himself from Hyunjin’s hold when he loosened it again. 

“Jinnie’s right though. We  _ have _ gone through a lot together in this world…” Seungmin remarked pensively. “And we’ve all had to rely on each other so much throughout it, too. Like, we couldn’t have made it on our own, any one of us. It makes me think, sometimes, that there is a purpose behind the whole… Behind us meeting each other like this, here, even though we are from all over this world. I mean… We do kind of… complete each other? Balance each other out? I don’t know…”

The others let Seungmin’s words sink in quietly, until Jisung nodded slowly in agreement.

“It’s true, we do. One’s weakness is the other’s strength, and what one lacks, the other has in spades. Like, take our fears for example…”

“Oh, yeah…! Like my fear of fire, but Lixie’s ability to control it.” Hyunjin chimed in, and Jisung nodded. 

“And my fear of crowds and your ability to lead an army into battle.”

“The way all three of us freeze up when facing our fears, but Sungie can so easily pull us out of whatever strange headspace we fall into with his powers…” Seungmin mused, and Jisung nodded enthusiastically.

“And the way we keep getting hurt but you can so easily patch us up again…!”

At that, Seungmin shot him a glare.

“That being said, I would really appreciate it if you stopped getting hurt. I might not be an empath power-wise, but I still hate seeing you get hurt, thank you very much! Just because I’m a healer doesn’t mean you can get reckless!”

Felix rubbed Seungmin’s shoulder calmingly. “No one is being reckless, Minnie. None of us like getting hurt, either. We’re just grateful you can heal us if we do get hurt.”

Seungmin huffed quietly, but leaned back into Felix’s hold, who continued.

“I agree, though. It feels like there is some reason behind us all meeting up like this. And… We’re not the only ones who think like that. Like, the orcs… The mountain folks…” He started, trailing off with a frown as he tried to recall the exact words the one bringing them food had said.

“They said this world would disappear if we met in the awake world. That’s why they wanted to keep us out of this realm so we wouldn’t be able to meet while awake.” Hyunjin supplied for him. “So I guess this world is somehow meant to bring us together, right? And once it’s served its purpose, it ceases to exist.”

A somber mood fell over the four.

“That’s… That’s so sad though. Like… All our friends... Eph, Ilex, Faisca, Starfall… They’ll just… What would happen to them? Would they die? Would they… dissolve? It doesn’t seem right. Their families have been building their lives here for generations, and now all of a sudden, just because we came here and then met in a different world, it’s all supposed to just… unexist?” Jisung mused, clearly upset.

“I don’t think that’s what will happen. It makes no sense.” Seungmin shook his head decidedly. “If that was true, all the creatures of this realm wouldn’t have been so welcoming and accommodating to us. I’m pretty sure… There might be a bit of truth in that belief of the orcs, but I’m pretty sure they got something wrong along the way. We might not be able to access this world anymore if we meet each other in our world, or something, but I don’t think this world will be affected by it.”

Seungmin’s words managed to lift the mood a little, at least.

“I want to believe that version. Let’s believe that version. Or better yet, hope that neither this world nor we are affected by it if we meet some day!!” 

Felix received a variety of noises of agreement in response, and they left it at that. Instead, a different topic came up while they got more comfortable.

“I know it sucked that we got trapped here yesterday and our sleep schedules are all messed up now, but… The fact that we are all here right now, all together, like this, and we’ve got  _ hours _ this time around before the first ones have to leave… That’s so, so great!” Jisung sighed happily, playing with Seungmin’s hand while he rested his head on Hyunjin’s stomach, still.

“For real! We can get actual Minnie cuddles for once!” 

Hyunjin snorted, shooting Felix what should probably have been a glare, but ended up more of a pout.

“You mean we  _ could  _ get actual Minnie cuddles - all of us - if you stopped hogging him to yourself!” 

“Aww! Am I not enough for you?!” Jisung cooed before anyone else could respond, rolling around and giving Hyunjin his best kicked-puppy look. Hyunjin rolled his eyes, shoving a hand in Jisung’s face.

“Shut up, and stop that! You know what I mean!”

Jisung squawked, moving out of the way of Hyunjin’s hand.

“Fine then! Replace me with Min; I demand to schedule a time for you to make up for the cuddles I’m missing today, though!”

“Make sure to contact my personal assistant to schedule an appointment, I am a very busy man, you know…!” Hyunjin played along, both missing the way Seungmin’s expression turned pensive while they jabbed playfully at each other.

“You know… Jisung has a point, though…” He spoke up eventually, catching the others’ attention.

“He what?”

“I what?”

“How?”

Seungmin sighed, sitting up and dislodging Felix, but for once, Felix didn’t mind.

“With the scheduling. We should do that. We should find a way to contact each other while we are awake, so we can talk to each other and find times to make sure we can meet up here, together. Or other things. Wake each other up if we need to flee this world at some point but can’t get out on our own. Inform each other of stuff that happened while someone else wasn’t there…”

The other three looked at him as if he’d just announced the discovery of the century, nothing short of in awe.

“Come on! You can’t have never thought about that before yourselves!” Seungmin rolled his eyes, giving them all an incredulous look.

“Well, I have, but…” Felix started, shrugging as he trailed off.

“It would have come in handy, yes, but… I only ever thought about it when no one was around, and then when I next came here I always forgot again…” Jisung admitted, while Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

“I thought about it during the day when I missed you guys, but always forgot here…”

Seungmin sighed, shaking his head.

“Ok. Anyway. Now that we’re all here and thinking about it, let’s do this! The easiest way is, of course, exchanging phone numbers. Do you have your numbers memorized?” Nods answered him from everyone. “Ok. So, let’s try to memorize one number each to make it easier for everyone, and we share with each other later. At least as long as no more than one of us fails to remember, we should manage to find each other when we’re awake!”

Seungmin’s idea and plan found easy agreement, and they spent the rest of their time together in the cave trying to memorize phone numbers. It wasn’t that much time they had, anyway, or at least it didn’t feel like it, before Seungmin announced he would have to wake up soon. Before long, he was gone, too, leaving the other three looking sadly at his empty spot. Jisung sighed, slumping over to occupy Seungmin’s spot as long as his warmth still lingered on the pillows the other had been lounging on.

“If Minnie is gone, it won’t be long before my alarm rings, too. I promised my boss I would definitely be there for the meetings in the afternoon… Lucky you, you can stay for so much longer; it’s the middle of the night for both of you…”

Hyunjin and Felix gave Jisung confused, inquiring looks, and Jisung proceeded to explain.

“I have to be on top of the time differences in the different countries the company has partners in, especially now that we’re not home, so I calculated the time differences for all of you, too. What’s three more schedules, anyway; right?”

“Wow…” Hyunjin nodded approvingly after a moment. “Who knew Sungie is actually smart, after all?”

Jisung sat up to pounce on Hyunjin immediately, locking him in a headlock.

“Here I am, being cute and shit, and all you can think off is mocking me, you ass!” He complained loudly while Hyunjin laughed, since the world didn’t allow Jisung to tighten his hold too much anyway. 

“Oh, stop it, you two!” Felix pouted eventually, and they actually did. “I just…” He shrugged when their attention turned to him. “I don’t want us to keep wasting our time together fighting all the time. Can we just… I don’t know, love each other for a while for once? Without roughhousing? You can do that literally any other time, but I’m just not feeling it right now. I just want us all to be together and it sucks enough that Minnie already had to leave, and if you have to leave soon, too, Ji…” He shook his head dejectedly, letting it droop.

Quietly, Jisung and Hyunjin separated, stopping their roughhousing to huddle to each of Felix’s sides and cuddle him between them.

“I just… I’ve come to like you all so much… I don’t have many people I’m close with in my life, other than my cousin, and… You’ve become so precious to me now, and it hurts that I only get to see you so little, especially Minnie, and I’m just… Feeling really down right now…” He confessed quietly, a lone tear running down his cheek, which was promptly caught by Jisung.

“Oh, Lixie…” He sighed, leaning his forehead against Felix’s. “I’m sorry… And thank you for telling us. I’m sorry I didn’t feel how you were feeling and upset you…”

Felix shook his head minutely, though, careful not to make Jisung pull away. “It’s not your fault, Ji… You’re not obligated to pick up on my moods. I’m glad you’re learning how to not let the outside influence you too much.”

“I’m sorry, too, though.” Hyunjin sighed, resting his chin on Felix’s shoulder as he hugged him. “I guess I’m just trying to distract myself from how sad it is that we are strewn all over the world, so far apart from each other, by fooling around…”

“Oh, Jinnie…!” Felix frowned, shifting so he could hug Hyunjin properly, too. “I’m sorry for making you sad again… Let’s all work extra hard to make sure we memorize each other’s numbers so we can plan when to meet up, ok? Spontaneously nap together when we miss each other too much, call when we can’t nap, or at least text throughout the whole day… Ok?”

***

They did try their best, and yet all of them, including Seungmin, woke up and remembered… nothing. Like a fleeting memory of a dream, they remembered they had been trying to memorize the phone numbers, and knew them well enough while asleep, but as soon as they woke up, the numbers were gone. And it stayed that way the next day, too, and the next, and every day they tried.

Felix stared hard at the red skin of his arm where he’d tried to leave a mark of Seungmin’s number while asleep, but while it had worked while they were lying next to each other in the grass of the clearing, listening to the buzzing and humming and rustling of the forest around them and watching the clouds float overhead, his skin was only red now, as if he’d scratched it in his sleep. And all he remembered was… There was an eight somewhere in Min’s number, he was sure of it. But where…? It wasn’t the first digit, nor the last… or was it? Or was it the country code? No, that was… That was in Hyunjin’s country code, not Seungmin’s…

Dejected, he sighed, getting out of bed. Only one digit; that didn’t help at all! Listlessly, he trudged to the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal. He was more just stirring around in it than eating it when Chan came in, toweling at his still damp hair as he went about making himself breakfast, too.

“Morning, pouty baby. What’s got you so gloomy?” Chan asked once he sat down across from Felix, but Felix only shrugged in answer.

“Did you sleep alright?” Chan inquired, his features morphing into a worried frown when Felix only shrugged again. “Is your sleep schedule still messed up? Do you need me to call your teachers with an excuse so you can rest another day?”

Felix rolled his eyes, nudging Chan’s leg with his foot under the table.

“I’m no longer in school, Chan… You don’t need to ‘call my teacher’. If I miss my lab without an excuse from a doctor I’ll just get written up and need to do compensation later…”

“Right, sorry.” Chan chuckled, but his expression turned serious again quickly. “Seriously, though: are you ok? I don’t mind driving you to the hospital to get that doctor’s excuse for you if you need it.”

Felix shook his head, though. “It’s fine. I slept enough, I don’t need to miss my lab. Don’t worry.”

Chan nodded, though not completely convinced, and both turned to their cereal again.

“Actually, Chan… Can I ask you a purely hypothetical question?” Felix piped up after a while, surprising Chan. He had just thought of something, and why not pick Chan’s brain when he usually had some pretty great ideas that had helped him many times before; maybe they’d help him again this time.

“Sure…?” Chan gave him a questioning look.

“So, imagine you meet someone and you get along really well and want to stay in touch with the person. Normally, you’d just exchange phone numbers, right? Imagine that didn’t work, though. And you can’t write anything down anywhere. What would you do?”

Chan hummed pensively, setting his spoon down as he tapped his chin in thought.

“That depends… If the person is from somewhere around that I can easily get to again, I’d ask them to meet up another time, and make sure by then exchanging phone numbers will work somehow.”

Felix’s face fell, but he didn’t give up just yet.

“Imagine they don’t have a phone, though.”

Chan looked up to give Felix an amused look as he chewed another spoonful of cereal.

“Technophobe or time traveller from the past century? You know some interesting people…!”

Felix rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he went back to his cereal. “Forget it… And it was just a hypothetical scenario anyway…!” He mumbled under his breath. 

Now, their kitchen table was by no means big, so Chan was close enough to hear him anyway.

“Hey, I was serious, though! Well, at least half serious…” Chan amended when he caught Felix’s disbelieving, judging look. “Anyway, if they aren’t a technophobe and do use other kinds of technology, there are tons of other ways to get in contact. Even if you can’t remember numbers well, there are other things you could remember much easier. Social media, email addresses, ID names for chats…”

Felix stared at Chan with his jaw dropped, incredulous. Bewildered at Felix’s expression, Chan tilted his head with a comically raised eyebrow, a confused smile playing on his lips.

“What?” 

Felix shook his head, groaning as he facepalmed. 

“Nothing. I can’t believe we’re such  _ idiots!” _

Chan held himself back from commenting, his smile turning from confused to knowing, though. 

Hypothetical, huh?

***

It took a few attempts, since some of them (Seungmin) kept their online presence pretty private and hidden. He insisted on making a completely new account to meet and find the others in the awake world first, then promptly forgot the access data to it the next day. 

Patiently, over the course of two relatively short meetings in which Felix went to sleep extra early to still catch Seungmin before he woke up again, he managed to convince Seungmin that they loved him already, and whatever they would find out about him through his already existing accounts wouldn’t change that. Seungmin relented eventually, though with so much hesitation that Felix himself became hesitant to look for the account and didn’t share the ID with Hyunjin and Jisung just yet.

He did look for Seungmin’s account later the same day, though, figuring it would be worse if he didn’t and left Seungmin hanging and anxious. What he found did surprise him, but in the best way. A fan account, huh? If anything, Felix felt himself fall even more in love with Seungmin as he scrolled through his fangirl posts, and head over heels when he found the first of his covers. From there, it was a short trip to Seungmin’s DMs, filling them with hearts and semi incoherent screaming about how amazing Seungmin was.

Seungmin was flustered, to say the least, but after more reassurance from Felix, allowed him to share his ID with the other two.

Still, despite the exchange of their contacts, and despite what they had thought would happen, they actually rarely communicated while awake. Most of the time, their messages to each other consisted merely of trying to figure out ways the four of them could meet up in the dream world, all together, or at least with Seungmin, since he was the one they saw the least often.

Those attempts often led to Seungmin sleeping at - for him - completely unusual times, throughout his day.

That, in turn, didn’t go unnoticed by his roommate and friend, who confronted him about it sooner rather than later.

“Nap again?” Minho asked when Seungmin came home earlier than usual once again. 

Seungmin hummed something affirmative, making a beeline for his room.

“Don’t you have a lecture in…” He checked the time on his phone. “...fifteen minutes? That’ll be a short nap!”

Seungmin shrugged.

“I’m not going.”

Minho’s eyes widened, genuine shock written across his features. “You’re skipping?!”

Seungmin sighed, giving Minho an annoyed look. 

“Yeah; so what? You skip all the time, too!”

Minho shook his head to clear it.

“Yeah, but I’m me; and you… You’re  _ you _ . You’re Kim Seungmin! Kim Seungmin doesn’t just skip lectures!”

Seungmin huffed. “Now he does.” And with that he started down the hallway to his room. 

Minho set down his laptop, getting up quickly to follow Seungmin.

“Min, wait!” Seungmin actually did stop when Minho used the nickname.

“Is everything alright? Don’t give me that look, I’m not trying to nag, I’m actually worried. You’re not… Burning out, or something, right?” Minho’s worry was real, and Seungmin felt bad for worrying him. “If you are… If you think you are... Please tell me, ok? I’m here for you, and I’ll help you with whatever you need.” 

Seungmin sighed quietly, shaking his head, though.

“I’m not, promise. I just… messed up my sleep schedule and can’t be bothered to struggle through setting it right again at once right now. Also, there’s some classes that are taking a lot out of me right now, so I’m prioritizing. I’m ok, though. But thank you, hyung.” With a light pat to Minho’s shoulder, Seungmin finally disappeared in his room and closed the door in his face.

Minho stood staring at the door, dumbfounded, for a while, before he huffed and turned away to go back to the living room and his own revisions. “Brat… If he really saw me as a hyung, would he treat me like that? Shut the door in my face like that?” He muttered to himself, in an attempt to dispel his worries over the younger.

He couldn’t really focus, though; his gaze kept wandering to the hallway and Seungmin’s room. He wondered if Seungmin was really ok, and not just brushing him off. He wished he had more grounds to pester him until he opened up to him and told him what was really wrong. Sometimes he wished… He wished Seungmin was his real brother, so he could bully him into letting him love him and help him. 

Then again, he  _ did  _ have a real little brother who he could pester! And the kid should be on break about now, so it was the perfect time to call him to distract himself!

Half an hour later, he was muffling his laughter as his brother told him a funny story about some shenanigans he’d gotten up to with his roommate, barely able to form words through his own laughter.

“Sounds like you’re having a great time over there. Make sure you keep making him make up for the scare he gave you the other day!” Minho chuckled as his brother finished, and suddenly, the younger became quiet.

“To be honest, hyung… He’s still kind of scaring me. It’s not that he sleeps like that one time anymore, but… He is behaving so  _ odd _ when it comes to sleeping! Like, we were watching a movie the other day, and he kept checking his watch and then suddenly got up and declared he had to go to sleep. It was still light out! Like, who even schedules a time to sleep like that? It’s not like he had a plane to catch or to go anywhere early or anything! He just randomly decided he needed to be asleep at six in the afternoon, sharp!”

Immediately, Minho’s thoughts were with Seungmin again.

“That’s really odd…” He agreed. “Could it have been just a coincidence? That he was just tired and kept checking the time to see if it was late enough yet to go to sleep but eventually just gave up?”

“I don’t know, hyung.” His brother hummed in thought. “It’s not like that is the only thing. He goes home or somewhere quiet to nap all the time now… Sometimes even in the morning! But he  _ does _ sleep at night, and really long, too. Like, I wish  _ I _ could get that much sleep!”

That sounded so much like Seungmin he would be wondering if his brother was actually roommates with him, too, if he didn’t know better.

“It must be something in his age group… My roommate does the same thing lately. He’s actually napping again right now…” He grasped for an explanation, one that could hopefully explain both their roommates.

“So is mine. They are only one year older than me… I hope I don’t become like that once I reach their age!” Minho’s brother complained, and Minho laughed, but he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling at that possibility.

“Please don’t! I’m too young to go gray out of worry over you! I worry enough about Minnie already!” He was only half joking.

“I don’t intend to! But if I do, please come back to look after me, I don’t trust my roommate to do that with how whack his own sleeping habits are right now!”

Minho laughed. “Can you wait until I finish my doctorate before you start sleeping weird, please?”

His brother laughed, too, but Minho could hear the pout in his voice when he spoke next.

“Please don’t tell me you only plan on coming back after your doctorate! Hyung!! You need to come visit before that!”

Minho’s heart warmed over his brother genuinely missing him, but also ached a little.

“I really don’t know…” He sighed, answering honestly. “You know I can’t fly alone, and I don’t want to make anyone fly out just to get me…”

“Why don’t you take your roommate with you? He can fly over and back no problem, right? And he could probably use a break, too…”

Minho wanted to scoff at the suggestion and shoot it down, but stopped himself short. Actually… That was actually, maybe, not the worst idea…

“I’ll… think about it.” He granted slowly. “It won’t be any time soon, though. Maybe after finals, so not for some months yet.”

To Minho’s brother, that was enough, though.

“As long as it’s not until after your doctorate…”

***

In some aspects, things were better now that they could communicate outside of being asleep. They could meet up with each other without having to hope for a chance encounter, plan their longer sleeps together so they could make the most out of their time, and even though rarely, just let each other know they were thinking of them and missing them, or sending encouraging messages. 

As nice as that was, however, there were other, less nice aspects of that new development, too. For one, their sleep schedules suffered; a lot. With the amount of naps they took, their nightly sleep was reduced over time and became fitful, and they tired easier during the day; which in turn led to more naps, and less nightly sleep, and so on.

Another aspect that suffered was their social life. With so much free time going into naps, they all neglected their friends and family, even those living with them; and they didn’t always find understanding. Combined with tiredness brought on from lack of proper sleep, tempers flared easily, harsh words were exchanged, and stress levels increased.

And last, but not least, their work slash academics suffered, too. 

While Jisung found remarkable understanding from his boss, the reprimands staying gentle as long as Jisung stayed relatively on top of his work, others weren’t as lucky. Seungmin, arguably the one whose naps influenced his daily life the most, felt it the worst in the dropping of his grades and piling up of assignments. Felix and Hyunjin weren’t that far behind, and while Hyunjin only had himself to be disappointed in his performance, Felix quickly feared to disappoint his cousin, who sacrificed so much for him, and he… He let it all go to waste by sleeping through his days? No, he couldn’t do that to Chan!

And so, collectively, they decided to slam the emergency brakes and sort out their lives first and foremost; even if that meant less time spent together. Daily naps to meet up as four became weekly, then bi-weekly, and finally monthly occurrences, as they promised each other to prioritize their awake lives.

It was by no means easy, though, and it hurt. In those few weeks of blissful daily encounters, the relationship between the four of them had developed explosively, meaning the forced distancing was that much harder, too. When they did manage to get together, all four of them, they were therefore inseparable, and while their regular days were spent helping the creatures of the forest in every way they could, as usual, the days where the four of them reunited were reserved solely to them, and no one else. The creatures of the forest learned that quickly, and generally left them alone during their quartet days, unless something truly terrible or extraordinary happened. 

And so, it was with alarm that they looked up to see Starfall and Eph burst into the clearing by the river where they were lounging, drying themselves off in the sun after swimming in the river, and banqueting themselves on berries, one day.

“Young But Great Healer!”

“Jisung!”

They called out, coming to a standstill in front of the respective one they had called for in a flurry of feathers, fur and kicked up dust, dry grass and leaves.

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin was the first to compose himself, as the only one who’d been far enough away to not be affected by the cloud of dirt stirred up by their landing.

“The mountains are gone!”

“The grasslands are gone!”

Eph and Starfall exclaimed at the same time, thoroughly befuddling the four humans.

“They what?” Felix put their collective confusion into words.

“The-” 

“One at a time!” Seungmin interrupted them as both the pegasus and manticore started talking at the same time again. “Starfall; what is going on?” He asked the pegasus, voice gentler now. Jisung glared at him, while at the same time burying his hands in Eph’s mane as the lion-like creature pressed his head against his stomach in search of comfort, now that he had to wait for his turn.

“The grasslands have vanished.” Starfall started again. “I came to the forest earlier, hoping to find you, but soon found it was one of the days you reserved for yourselves. So, I planned on returning to my herd and clan, but… The grasslands are gone.”

All four of the humans frowned, unable to make sense of the winged mare’s tale.

“But… Gone, how? Destroyed? Burned down? Sunken? What happened?” Felix asked, and the pegasus gave him an exasperated look.

“No. Just gone. There is-... There is nothing where they once were. It is impossible to go there. I tried, on the ground and through the air. It is impossible. You can look right at it, but there is… There is nothing.”

Silence encompassed them while frowning, confused looks were exchanged.

“But nothing… Nothing how…? There has to be something…” Jisung broke the silence eventually, muttering more to himself than to be heard. Eph still did, however.

“It must be the same as with the mountains. I don’t know when they vanished, since I haven’t been there since my pride relocated to the cliffs, but when I wanted to go there earlier, I couldn’t. Just like Starfall just said, it’s impossible, there, too. There is just… nothing, where they once were. It’s like… Like going blind, looking at where they used to be. And you can’t get close. It’s impossible. The world won’t let you.”

An uncomfortable feeling settled in everyone’s stomachs, but while Jisung and Hyunjin felt stricken immediately, Seungmin and Felix still weren’t convinced.

“We need to see that for ourselves.” Felix declared. “Or not see; whichever it is. We’ll need to know what is happening to be able to figure out the reason.” 

Without further ado, the elemental conjured a fireball and shot it high up into the sky. Hyunjin shuddered at the display, but recovered quickly and cupped his hands around his mouth to call for Ilex. A distant cry answered them, and before long, a phoenix and a dragon chasing each other cut through the sky over the forest. Their playful chase came to an end with Ilex landing and Faisca flying circles around Felix, no clear winner determined; seeing the grave expressions of those waiting for them, they quickly forgot about their race, too.

“We have to check on the grasslands. And the mountains.” Seungmin informed the two new arrivals.

Quietly, they got ready, each of them climbing onto their mounts. Well, almost quietly. 

“Why do we need to check the grasslands first; the mountains are closer, anyway…” Jisung muttered under his breath as he cowered on Eph’s back. Unfortunately for him, at least Felix heard him.

“Starfall’s family is in the grasslands, still, Sung. Of course we need to see if we can get to them, first. Eph’s family is safe, thankfully.”

Jisung ducked further against the manticore’s back, ashamed now, since he hadn’t thought of that before. When they lifted off, though, he could feel a deep vibration going through Eph’s body; a purr. 

“I appreciate your support.” It seemed to say, even though Jisung wouldn’t have been able to hear Eph’s voice over the sound of air rushing past his ears as they crossed the sky over the forest. It did manage to reassure him, and make him feel less bad about his slip-up, though, and to show his appreciation, he gently pet Eph’s fur while holding on.

Before long, Jisung thought he started to understand what Eph and Starfall had reported, though. The mountains that were usually looming in the distance were just… Not there. There wasn’t forest in their stead, nor an expanse of sky, or fog or clouds covering them. There was just…  _ nothing.  _ And as they approached what should be the end of the forest where the grasslands bordered, it was even more apparent. There was no vast expanse of even green with shimmery, silvery waves as the wind rolled over the open land. There was no open land. There was- 

Jisung rubbed at his eyes, disoriented, as it felt like he had something clouding his vision; as if a veil of tears blurred the world around him. And yet, as soon as he averted his gaze from where the grasslands should have been, the world came back into focus; meanwhile, no amount of rubbing cleared his vision to see where the grasslands should have been.

Ahead of them, Starfall began to descend, and Faisca followed. Jisung could feel Eph struggling, but it was to no avail; he couldn’t stay up in the air and was forced down, too. If Ilex’s frustrated roar behind them was any indication, he didn’t fare any better, either.

They landed, and the first thing Jisung heard once the wind stopped rushing over his ears was Faisca’s indignant chattering.

“None of us were able to stay in the air, Faisca.” Eph sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the magic of the world, preventing us from getting too close to the Nothing.” 

“Let’s try to get closer on foot. I want to see it up close.” Seungmin insisted, though, against the soft protests of the creatures that had carried them over. 

Hyunjin, Felix and Jisung followed him; some more fearful than others. Jisung would gladly have stayed behind while the others went, and he could feel that Hyunjin wholeheartedly agreed with him. In a bid for comfort for both of them, he caught up with Hyunjin and slipped his hand into his. Hyunjin didn’t comment, but interlaced their fingers and held on tight. 

Meanwhile, Seungmin and Felix eventually slowed down, and Jisung and Hyunjin soon felt why: the air was turning thick, feeling more and more like a physical barrier. First, it felt like walking through water, but the further they walked, the harder it became; water turning to honey, honey to mud, mud to sponge that wouldn’t give any more. While the air remained clear, and they could see trees and the beginnings of grass sprouting between them, they couldn’t walk further, and not too far ahead the trees disappeared in the Nothing, the blurry blindness that seemed to fall over their eyes when they looked at it.

“This is…” Seungmin started, but words failed him.

“Scary. Really scary.” Jisung, however, was not afraid of voicing what he thought. “Please, let’s go back. I don’t want to be so close to this.”

No one answered him, though, until Felix and Seungmin exchanged a look.

“Do you feel what I feel?”

Felix nodded at the question, but Jisung didn’t understand what they were talking about. Neither did Hyunjin, apparently.

“What’s going on?”

Seungmin took a step back, and so did Felix, after a moment.

“This… Barrier kind of thing. It’s pushing back.” Felix explained.

“Pushing back?!”

Seungmin nodded.

“Let’s get out of here.” He decided, and relief trickled into Jisung’s chest; he didn’t have to tell him twice, and he quickly turned around to join the creatures waiting for them anxiously again.

“To the mountains!” Felix declared as soon as he reached them, too, and Faisca nearly wrapped herself around him; twice. 

Once again, they mounted the creatures and took off. The ride was shorter this time around, and they landed sooner, not waiting until they were forced to.

“Eph, did you try to get close before?” Seungmin asked the manticore once they had landed, and Eph shuddered, pressing his body against Jisung’s side for comfort.

“I stopped as soon as I felt the air thicken and hurt to breathe.”

Seungmin frowned. “Hurt to breathe?”

“We can’t go as far as you.” Starfall elaborated for Eph. “Even if we try. Before, we would have followed, but where you left us was as far as we could go.”

Seungmin nodded pensively. “Can you tell us up to where you could go earlier?”

Curious gazes flitted towards Seungmin, as they clearly expected him to have something in mind, and Eph nodded. He guided them, trembling ever so slightly under Jisung’s hand between his shoulders every now and then, until he stopped with a frown.

“I went further, earlier… Up to where that boulder lies between the trees. But I don’t dare now. It already hurts.”

Hastily, Jisung urged the manticore to step back, to where it was safe for him. In the meantime, Seungmin’s expression darkened.

“It’s expanding.”

***

Despite it being an emergency, the four of them only managed to meet up again a few days later. They hadn’t wanted to discuss what they had to in front of their worried friends the other day, and neither had a good theory of what was going on, anyway. Now, though, after a few days had passed and they knew more, too, the time for an emergency meeting was overdue.

“It’s been four days, and after the mountains and the grasslands, now the swamp is gone, too, and I’ve heard from Faisca that the forest between the swamp and the grasslands is gone, too. And it’s coming down along the river as well.” Felix reported once they were all there, having been the first to arrive once again that day and already gone out. “It hasn’t come further in from the mountains yet, thankfully. But… It feels like… Like it’s boxing us in.”

A collective shudder went through them, and Seungmin nodded knowingly.

“It does. It’s… it’s closing the borders of our realm.”

Hyunjin inhaled sharply, going over a mental map of their realm in his head, being the one who knew the realm the best and for the longest time.

“You’re right… It’s coming in along the borders. Why has it come down so far from the mountains, though…? And why has it stopped?”

No one could give him an answer, though.

“We don’t even know why it’s appeared in the first place, though…” Jisung adverted then, stating the obvious that everyone was ignoring.

Felix hummed in agreement, but not happily so, as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them tightly. “What if the mountain orcs were right? What if it’s the world disappearing because we’re getting closer to meeting each other in the other world?”

Hesitant looks were exchanged, until Seungmin spoke up.

“Are we, though? Are we really? I mean… I for sure am not travelling anywhere any time soon, so unless you come to me…”

Hyunjin shook his head, too, though. 

“Not me, sadly. I had my U.S. trip already, and we didn’t meet then. Also, my parents were so disappointed, I don’t think they’ll go again so soon. And there’s no way I’ll be going again, either; not with the zero funds I have.”

“Same here.” Felix sighed. “My cousin can barely keep us afloat as is, travelling is not on the agenda for a long, long time…!”

“Meanwhile, I’ll be travelling a lot, but neither Korea, Australia or the U.S. are on the itinerary so far. And aside from the fact that I don’t have the money to travel on my own, nor the time… Don’t get me wrong, I love you all, but if I did have a day or two to stay at home, I would not move from my bed the whole time. Without imminent joblessness and eviction followed by homelessness looming over my head, I don’t think I can convince my brain and body to do anything at all most days.”

With that, they lapsed into silence for a while.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like we’ll be meeting any time soon. So, that can’t be the reason why the world is disappearing. Does anyone else have a theory?”

No one answered Seungmin for a long time, but eventually they started brainstorming. And decided to keep doing that once they woke up again, too: investigate with whatever means they had, however little they were.

***

For the longest time, their investigations remained fruitless. 

None of the beings in the dream world had any idea about why their world was disappearing, and all too soon their beautiful, peaceful forest was completely surrounded by Nothing, and there was no escaping. Every day, the Nothing closed in a little more, taking a few more meters of forest with it, and everyone and everything that was in its way, too. The creatures lived in fear of running out of space, until eventually, they started disappearing, too. 

A whole colony of little rabbit-like creatures with intricate antlers on their heads that they liked to decorate with flowers, leaves and berries, were the first ones, disappearing from one moment to the other. Another day, two of the large river-serpents were gone without a trace. And on yet another, the forest fell silent as the buzzing of the tiny, butterfly-like fairies disappeared; every last one of the little creatures. By then, everyone lived in fear of suddenly disappearing, and Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin couldn’t help but feel like they were failing the creatures that had learned to rely on them. 

Waking up in the dream world was no longer a source of joy, the weight of the responsibility crushing by then, and once again, the events in that world started affecting them during their waking hours as well.

Nothing prepared either of them, though, for the night when Hyunjin went to sleep, and… didn’t dream.

Felix and Jisung waited in the cave, expecting Hyunjin to join them any moment now, figuring that something must have simply come up that delayed him, and didn’t worry too much at first.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, having gone to sleep expecting to meet Felix and Jisung minutes later, but being met with, well, nothing… He didn’t sleep well. After not too long of a time, he woke up again, covered in sweat, and the realization what it meant that he hadn’t dreamed washed over him like a bucket of ice water: he couldn’t get into their dream world anymore!

Panic gripped his heart in a tight fist and he scrambled for his phone, hastily sending a text to their group chat. He didn’t receive a response, though, and decided to try texting the others individually. 

Felix and Jisung were most likely asleep, so it would take him spamming their inboxes for them to eventually, possibly wake up. And Seungmin… Seungmin should be awake, so maybe, if he texted him instead… If he was insistent enough, surely he would stop ignoring his phone!

Not long after he’d started texting Seungmin frantically, his phone rang, and in his surprise, he dropped it, failing to answer the call. Luckily, Seungmin called him again, and this time he answered immediately.

“What do you mean, you can’t get in?” Seungmin cut straight to the chase.

“I can’t!” Hyunjin whisper-shouted immediately. “I went to sleep, but there was nothing! Just… Dark! I don’t know why I woke up, but- Minnie!” A broken sob wrung itself out of his throat. “Minnie, why can’t I get in?!” 

Seungmin didn’t have an answer for him, and Hyunjin quickly spiralled into desperate sobs. All Seungmin could do was listen to Hyunjin break down, while his own heart broke, too, and fear gripped him tightly while he ached. He was not ready to lose what he had with the other three! However stressful the dream world had become as of late, it was still the only place where he could meet them, meet the people who’d come to mean the world to him; both worlds, even!

“Jinnie, we’ll figure something out…” He tried eventually, his voice breathless as he had trouble believing his own words. “We will! This is not the end. It can’t be. We’ll find out what’s going on, and we’ll make it all go back to how it was, to how it was when everything was ok…!”

Hyunjin sobbed brokenly on the other end, and with every sob, Seungmin felt himself closer to joining him.

“How, though, Minnie? How?”

That was the question of the century, really.

“I… I’m not sure. Not yet. But I will figure something out, Jinnie. For now… You should try to sleep, even if you don’t dream. It’s so late for you… You need to rest!”

Hyunjin’s denial was so vehement, Seungmin almost felt it like a physical blow. 

“What fucking good is sleep if I can’t fucking dream?! I don’t want to go back to fucking nothing!”

Seungmin flinched, and while he wanted to coax Hyunjin into giving at least his body some time to rest, he didn’t dare. Hyunjin was swinging wildly between seething anger and desolate sadness, and he had no idea what to do. If at least Jisung was here…! And had his powers. They really, really needed Jisung and his powers right now! Oh, if only Hyunjin could dream!

Seungmin’s steps turned away from where he was headed to his lecture, instead finding the way to the library while he still tried to somehow calm and reassure Hyunjin, despite feeling just as helpless. He had a feeling what Hyunjin needed most right now was simply the companionship, though, and he was proven right when Hyunjin eventually stopped crying and cursing, and they actually stayed silent on the phone for the most part, with nothing but small comments in between.

Seungmin had found his way to the library in the meantime, and he had a vague idea what he was looking for, making a beeline for the shelves with books on psychology; the more obscure ones. The ones that verged on fantastic and had little to do with science anymore. The ones about dream interpretation and the likes.

He didn’t tell Hyunjin what he was doing, and he didn’t think Hyunjin minded. Eventually - hours must have passed - Hyunjin announced he had to get up, and while Seungmin stayed with him while he got ready, they hung up the call when Hyunjin left for class. Still, Seungmin stayed in the library, more focused than ever, but also dreading when Felix and Jisung would wake up and find the messages Hyunjin had left them. Still, he decided he wouldn’t tell them what he was up to, the same way he hadn’t told Hyunjin. He had a feeling things were about to get worse before they got better, and he didn’t want to get their hopes up, just for them to be crushed again.

***

Hyunjin was terrified of going to sleep that night. He didn’t want to find himself surrounded by nothing but darkness again, didn’t want to sleep if it wasn’t to meet up with the other three - or, at least one, or two, of the three! 

He was tired, though; so, so tired! He’d barely slept the night before, and spent the rest of the time freaking out, pretty much. The day hadn’t been kind to him, either, and he didn’t quite manage to hide his state from his best friend, either. 

“Hyung, please. Can you really not tell me what’s wrong?” Jeongin pleaded as he watched Hyunjin space out again, deep red-rimmed eyes, sore from crying randomly all throughout the day, focussed on nothing for the seemingly hundredth time since they’d both come home.

How could Hyunjin, though? What was he supposed to do; tell Jeongin that he was scared of going to sleep because he didn’t want to  _ not _ dream? 

Yeah, no.

Jeongin sighed, sitting down on the couch next to him, slinging an arm around Hyunjin.

“Fine. Keep your secrets. But… Know that I’m here for you, ok? Whether you want to tell me or not. I’m here if you want to stay up the whole night again, or need someone to cuddle you through it. I would say this is a one time offer and for you to not get used to it, but, damn, hyung… You look so much like you need all the comfort in the world you’re making it really hard for me to pretend I hate your clinginess!”

Hyunjin barely managed to crack a semblance of a smile at his friend’s joke, and Jeongin’s worry mounted at the lack of reaction. At least, Hyunjin finally leaned into his embrace and rested his head on Jeongin’s shoulder, accepting the comfort the younger provided.

And then, the tears rolled again, silently. And Jeongin didn’t ask again, just handing Hyunjin tissues, and eventually vaseline to soothe the skin of his rubbed-raw nose. 

At some point, late into the night, lo and behold: Hyunjin did fall asleep. Jeongin barely dared to move, merely helping Hyunjin to lie down and use his lap as a pillow, just so he was at least a little more comfortable. He didn’t dare get up and leave him, though.

Little did he know - he couldn’t, really - that Hyunjin would have done anything to stay asleep in that moment, no matter what Jeongin did to rouse him.

He had woken up in the so very familiar cave again, startling Jisung, Felix and Seungmin with his sudden appearance.

“Jinnie!” Jisung cried first, throwing himself through the cave and into Hyunjin’s arms. “You’re here!” He sniffled against his shoulder.

Hyunjin could barely believe it, holding on to Jisung’s small body tightly. For once, Jisung didn’t complain about being crushed.

“How…?” Felix whispered, instead, approaching the pair to hug Hyunjin, too. “You came!”

Hyunjin nodded minutely.

“I did. I don’t know… I was so scared to fall asleep and  _ not _ wake up here… I tried not to sleep-”

“Hwang Hyunjin!” Seungmin interrupted him, giving him a glare over Jisung’s shoulder. “You can’t avoid going to sleep! You need to rest, whether you wake up here or not! Your body needs the rest! You  _ know _ that!”

Hyunjin found it in him to look sheepish for a moment, but it passed rather quickly.

“You have no idea what it’s like, though… To not wake up here anymore, when you’ve always come here for over a year, without fail. The darkness. The silence. The isolation… And I hope you never will!” He grit out between clenched teeth, but Jisung quickly managed to evaporate the anger from his system. Even if he tried, now, he couldn’t be angry at Jisung for that, either.

Still, Seungmin apologized. And so did Hyunjin. And, needless to say, neither of the four left the cave that night, their time together suddenly feeling so much more precious. The fear of losing each other, of losing what they had in this world, in their shared dreams, it was paralyzing, and all they could think of doing was cling tightly to each other, hoping, wishing, that they would never have to let go.

***

Against Hyunjin’s deepest wishes, Seungmin - and not only him - also did find out what it was like to suddenly not wake up in their shared dream world after going to sleep anymore. For a while, it was only Hyunjin to whom it happened occasionally, but then one night, it hit Jisung. And then, Felix was trapped in a dreamless sleep for a whole night. And lastly, Seungmin, too, even though they only found out about that through his text when he woke up in the morning; curse time-zones.

If they hadn’t been desperate before, now, with all of them missing out on being able to access their ever shrinking dream world - with ever less creatures populating it, too - it became unbearable. And they became careless in their investigation and attempts to find out a reason, and a solution, for their problem.

It was due to that carelessness that Chan eventually found Felix sitting in the middle of their living room, countless books strewn all over the floor around him.

“What are you studying so passionately?” The older cousin asked with a chuckle from the doorway, trying to survey the books littering the area around Felix.

“Dream worlds…” Felix answered without thinking, too engrossed in deciphering the faded letters in an ancient book he had found.

“Dream worlds?” Chan raised an eyebrow as Felix finally looked up. “Interesting.”

Instantly, Felix’s face coloured and he turned away from Chan.

“I-I mean, uh…”

Felix was really, really not good at making up believable cover stories, but now he wished he was. He wished it so, so bad! What would Chan think if he knew about the kind of world Felix was trying to find information about! 

Then again… Felix paused, reminiscing. He  _ had _ told Chan about that world before. Right in the beginning, right after first waking up in it. He had told Chan about his problems with the other boys before. He hadn’t told him he had kind of fallen for them, no; that was the time when he stopped referencing the world to Chan completely. Or, well, as completely as he could, without the occasional slip-up. But hadn't Chan always found an answer, a solution to all his troubles, without judgement?

“Actually, Chan…” Felix started, before Chan could leave again. “Do you remember me telling you about those dreams I had a while ago? About that world I woke up in every time I went to sleep, where I’d always meet the same few people?”

Chan hummed affirmatively. “Yeah. You still have those? What about them?”

Curious, Chan sat down on the floor across from Felix, the mountain of books strewn out between them.

Felix bit his lip as he contemplated how much to tell Chan, and how much to withhold, while toying with the edges of the book in his lap.

“About them… I do still have them. I’ve had them every night for over a year now. And, it was always the same, with the same three others…” He trailed off, unsure if he should mention that he’d since found out they were real people, that he’d exchanged contacts with them and contacted them while awake, too. And also, well, that he’d kind of fallen for them, too. In the end, he decided against that, though; at least for now. 

“Well, I… I’ve really gotten used to having those dreams every night, and really started to love them, to look forward to them.” He picked up again. “But, recently...That world has started to disappear. Every time I wake up in it, another part of it is gone. And now, it’s even starting to affect both me and the other three I always meet there. First it was one of them who would just not appear in the world some days. But now, it’s happened to all of us. We just-... I just went to sleep, and instead of waking up there, I didn’t dream at all. And it was really, really scary!”

“Oh…” Chan’s expression turned sympathetic. “That’s… I see. I can see how that would be disconcerting.” 

Felix nodded, grateful Chan understood. “It is, very! And it made me really sad, too. I’m… I’m not ready to go back to not dreaming. Granted, those dreams are not always just nice and peace and flowers and rainbows, but I don’t want to miss them. I don’t want to lose them, but more and more, it’s like they are slipping away from me.”

Chan flinched, giving Felix a sympathetic look, and thus unknowingly prompting him to continue.

“And now, I’m trying to figure out what all of this means; from why I’m having these dreams, to what it means that the world in them is disappearing, to whether there is a way for me to be able to stop that from happening eventually.”

For the first time, Felix looked up to fix his gaze on Chan’s, and Chan shuddered involuntarily under his attention. 

“I’m also wondering… You wouldn’t happen to know anything about dream worlds and such, would you?”

Felix’s question was innocent enough, but still it drove Chan into fidgeting nervously where he sat.

“I’m, actually, well… I’m not sure. I don’t… It probably wouldn’t help you, anyway…! I, uhh, I have to go, I-... Call!” He stuttered hastily, and with that, he got up, clapping a hand to Felix’s shoulder that should probably have been comforting as he went. “Good luck!” He wished, and then he was gone. 

Felix could only stare after his cousin in bewilderment; what had that been all about?!

Shaking his head, he went back to the book in his lap. If Chan couldn’t help him, he had to keep trying to figure it out on his own. 

***

There was an idle time in Jisung’s schedule, Younghyun not needing him for anything at the moment. With how short-notice that could change, though, he didn’t see the point in making his way to the staff room, or to wander the hallways to give his back and stiff muscles a little to do to uncoil somewhat. Instead, he decided to stay at his desk, spending his free time to search dream meanings, and what it meant to meet up with other people in your dreams; like he always did when he had some time to spare. They were all putting in all the effort they could to try and figure out what was going on, to save their world, after all.

He was so focussed on his search, carefully combing through every result that came up, that he almost missed Younghyun coming in. He was on the phone, and while Jisung registered faintly that he was talking, it wasn’t until he heard the words “world is disappearing”, at the end of a question, that he snapped to attention. 

Younghyun didn’t pay Jisung any mind, though, hanging up his jacket as he continued the conversation he was having. 

“One year, hmm…” He hummed pensively, starting for his own office. “But we met way before that…” He trailed off, stopping mid step while his eyes widened, clearly after whoever was on the other end of the line said something that caught him off guard.

“We shouldn’t interfere, babe…!” Ah, so he was talking to his boyfriend, Jisung deduced. “Yeah, I know, I feel bad for them, too…” And that was as far as Jisung could hear, since Younhyun had resumed his path and shut the door to his office behind him, blocking Jisung from hearing more.

Jisung physically shook himself to focus back on the present, on his own task, his search, again. His boss’ private life was none of his business, anyway; it was just that the words “world” and “disappearing”, in the same breath, triggered an immediate response in him to pay close attention these days. He wanted to hear all about it, no matter the context, in hopes that maybe something could provide at least a clue to what was happening to their world! 

With a sigh, he turned back to his search, though, hoping to find something useful. And yet, he had the nagging feeling that there was something, something in the back of his mind, that he should pay special attention to. If only he could fully grasp it!

***

Hyunjin sat on the couch, knees pulled up to squash a pillow against his chest, arms wrapped tightly around his legs, and kept staring blankly in the direction of Jeongin and his tutor. For what felt like the millionth time, he suppressed a yawn, and also for the millionth time, that caught Jeongin and his tutor’s attention. They had just finished their tutoring session,though, and there was nothing holding the tutor back from confronting Hyunjin about his behaviour anymore.

“If you’re tired, why don’t you just go to sleep? You’ve been yawning for the past hour and a half, and you look like you haven’t slept in days. Just go to bed…!” The guy suggested, ignoring Jeongin’s sharp intake of breath. Sleep was a topic best avoided in their household these days.

“Changbin-hyung…!” He tried, but it was too late. Hyunjin’s expression fell.

“I don’t feel like it. Going to sleep is not my friend these days.” He mumbled, blinking his eyes harshly to will them to stop burning from exhaustion. “It just makes me really anxious, not knowing if I’ll dream or not, and what will happen…” He added, much more quietly. If he’d been more awake, he probably would have kept that bit to himself, but as it was, it slipped out.

Jeongin’s tutor, Changbin - also, coincidentally, their landlord, and somehow personal friend because he’d decided to take Jeongin under his wing and tutor him at some point, and things had developed from that - gave Hyunjin a half curious, half pitying look.

“But dreaming is so cool…!” He sighed. “I wish I could dream, but I never have. Or maybe I just don’t remember. I have a friend, though, an old co-worker, who even dreamt about his future boyfriend before ever meeting him. In fact, if I recall correctly, it was them dreaming about each other that got them to meet in the end and get together! They always said it was fate, or something like that. And they still dream about each other to this day, too, despite having been together for years. Well, at least, together romantically. They’ve been living on separate continents and rarely get the chance to meet, but they say that their dreams about each other help them make the long distance relationship work, until they can live physically together, too. Isn’t that romantic? I want something like that!”

Halfway through Changbin’s story, Hyunjin had sat up, suddenly very alert as he listened to him. Before he could ask anything, though, Changbin stretched, cracking his back with a yawn of his own.

“Well, kiddos. It’s getting late, and I’m tired, too. I’m heading home; maybe I’ll get lucky and dream of my soulmate, too, tonight!” He grinned cheerily. “Don’t stay up too late, boys. I’ll see you around!”

He got up and waved, and Jeongin followed suit to bring him to the door. Hyunjin, his brain too sleep-addled to process quickly enough, was left behind. By the time his tired brain fully processed Changbin’s words, he was long gone, but Hyunjin didn’t mind too much, actually. There was something, something they could grasp onto, and he needed to share it! 

Without waiting for Jeongin to come back, Hyunjin got up and sprinted to his room, diving under the covers and willing himself asleep in no time.

***

Seungmin was out of breath as he slammed the door to the apartment open with force.

“Hey, Kim Seungmin! If you make a hole in the plaster with the doorknob, this time you pay the repair-man!” Minho’s voice shouted from the living room. Seungmin didn’t even spare the time to roll his eyes at him, pushing the door shut behind himself. “What are you even doing home yet? You left an hour ago. Don’t you have class?”

Seungmin ignored him, darting through the living room and to the bathroom after dropping his bag, his coat and the books he was carrying along the way, and rummaged through the bathroom cabinets.

“Hey! Seungmin! What’s gotten into you?!” Minho asked again, more insistently, after following Seungmin to the bathroom.

“No time… Minho, have you seen our sleep aids?”

Minho froze in the doorway. 

“Our… what the hell, Seungmin?!”

Seungmin rolled his eyes, pushing at Minho in the door as he exited the bathroom to go look in the kitchen.

“I need to sleep, right now. I need to pass out as soon as physically possible! I need to nap. And I need the damned sleep aids to do that  _ right now _ .” At least, he tried to explain somewhat, even if the response only confused Minho more.

“You need to  _ sleep?  _ Why do you need to sleep if you’re not even tired and need sleep aids to help you with that? What the hell is going on, Seungmin?!”

Seungmin shook his head, though, rifling through the cabinets.

“I’ll explain another time! But now, I really need to sleep  _ right now _ , if in any way possible! Please, hyung, help me? It’s really, really important!”

Minho stared at Seungmin as if he’d grown not just one second head, but several other surplus limbs as well, for good measure.

“Please, hyung. Trust me. I will explain later, ok?” Seungmin practically begged, and seeing the despair in Seungmin’s eyes, he gave in.

“They are in your desk…” He volunteered eventually. 

Seungmin thanked him breathlessly before rushing to his room. For good measure, Minho followed him, watching him swallow one of the unnecessarily big pills dry, and winced. Seungmin truly had to be not from this world to accomplish that feat!

Quickly, Seungmin pulled the blackout curtains over his window closed, too, stripped to his shirt and underwear and slipped into bed.

“Close the door, please, hyung?” He asked, but it was an unmistakable hint for Minho to leave.

Reluctantly, Minho did, unable to stop wondering, worrying. Just what was wrong with Seungmin these days?

Back in his room, Seungmin felt guilty, too. He really had to come up with a good explanation of… well. All  _ this _ , everything that had been happening over the past  _ year _ , at this point, to Minho. He owed him that much!

But first, he needed to meet up with his boys! That was more important than anything else right now! 

And thankfully, the sleeping aid kicked in soon, and he fell asleep quickly to wake up in the dream world right after.


	8. Fading Worlds

Looking around, it looked to Jisung as if they were all arriving at the same time, landing in a puppy pile in the mountain of pillows and blankets in the middle of the cave, all in the process of “waking up” after getting there only seconds ago.

“You’re- you’re all here!” Relief poured into his voice as he met each of the others’ gazes. “Good! I have something to tell you! I found something!”

“You too?” Hyunjin sounded so hopeful; before Jisung could answer, Felix chimed in, too, though.

“Actually, so did I.”

“It would figure that we all find out what we’re looking for at the same time.” Seungmin sighed, shaking his head. “Sungie, want to go first?” Ever the rational one among them, he mediated before they could descend into chaos.

“Me? Oh- ok. I did find something out, yeah!” Jisung nearly tripped over his words in excitement. “Apparently, sometimes it happens that you meet people in your dreams that you are supposed to meet later in life. According to the legends I’ve found, it has to do with reincarnation, and how you are destined to meet some people you share a really close or special bond with in one lifetime again in future lifetimes. What we have really fit into the descriptions of the dreams I read up on. And it would seem our situation isn’t even that unique, either; it’s said that it happens to a lot of people, most just never talk about it. I even know someone it happened to: my boss. He told me he used to dream about a guy, and then he did meet him in real life after some time.”

“Whoa…!” Felix breathed in awe, practically hanging off Jisung’s lips at this point. And so did the other two. “And what happened then?”

Jisung had to shrug awkwardly in answer, though. “I don’t know. All my boss said was that when he saw the guy, he booked it, because he felt like he knew the other already even though they’d never met before, physically, and he didn’t know how to act around him when the time finally came.”

Three matching groans answered a sheepish Jisung, but the disappointment didn’t last long since Hyunjin spoke up before it could drag on.

“Ok, can I go next?” 

He got the go ahead from the others.

“So I heard a story from my best friend’s tutor, who swears he has a friend who met his boyfriend in his dreams before meeting him in real life. They even met up in real life  _ because _ of their dreams, and even though they live really far apart now, their relationship keeps going strong precisely because they still have those dreams and keep meeting up in them; despite already having met in person! So, for them, meeting up didn’t destroy their dream world. Instead, their dreams got them together and are helping them stay together despite the physical distance, until they can live together.”

“Shit, that’s really romantic.” Jisung’s whisper cut through the silence that followed Hyunjin’s tale, and Felix pulled him into a hug. Jisung, clutching a pillow tightly to his chest at that point, leaned into him heavily; still without letting go of the pillow, though.

“I found a really… scientific article about this phenomenon, too.” Felix spoke up when he was sufficiently wrapped around Jisung. “It talked about how sometimes people are fated to be together, so they find themselves in dreams together first. The dreams are designed to help them find each other while awake, and make sure they recognize each other when they do meet, and already know each other to some degree to ensure that they will come into each other’s lives. It really does happen relatively often, like, one in every hundred or so people experiences it, in varying degrees of intensity, but it is very, very rarely talked about, other than in fairy tales and fictional works.” Felix’s findings corroborated what Jisung and Hyunjin had found, but he wasn’t really satisfied. “I tried finding out about what it means if those dreams start to disappear again, but I didn’t find anything about that, unfortunately… Just that they are supposed to grant a happy ending, after all.”

For a moment, disappointed silence hung over them, until Seungmin cleared his throat.

“I did, though.” His voice, despite merely a whisper, cut through the silence. It got him the undivided attention of the other three. “What I found was similar to what Lix did, but there was more. The dream worlds start to disappear bit by bit, the dreams in themselves becoming less frequent, when the probability of the people ever meeting in the awake world becomes less likely. It’s a warning.”

This time, the silence that ensued was deafening, heavy; laden with shock and dread.

“We can’t let that happen…!” Felix broke the silence eventually, his voice hoarse. “We can’t. We can’t lose our dreams together and each other. We have to meet up! Right-... Right now!”

“But how, Lix?” Jisung’s voice sounded wet. “How? I live for my job only right now, and I can’t afford to lose it. I’ll never find a job like this again with my lack of education. I’m infinitely grateful my boss tolerates me with all my shortcomings as is, and I can’t do anything else to disappoint him; and since he never takes breaks, neither can I…”

“We’ll have to come to you, then!” Hyunjin decided, equally choked up.

“How are we meant to do that?” Seungmin nearly scoffed, though it was mostly to cover up his own voice breaking, since despite not being an empath like Jisung, he was still affected by the emotions from the others. “I for sure can’t. I’m a med student, still in school. I’m the textbook definition of a broke college student; and have you seen what a student debt in America looks like? I’ll be working to pay that back for the rest of my life. I won’t be travelling anywhere in the next I don’t know how many years!”

“I hate this, but… Me too, actually…” Felix’s enthusiasm and determination finally broke under the weight of realism. “I don’t even have a job because my cousin wants me to be able to focus only on my studies. I’m fully dependent on him. And I could never just ask him for money to travel, especially not when he is holding back from travelling to see his own boyfriend himself, giving that up for my sake. It’s- I just owe him too much already.”

A quiet sniffle sounded through the decreasing space between them, but it seemed to echo off the walls of the whole cave.

“Oh, Jinnie…” Seungmin sighed quietly, reaching out to pull Hyunjin into his arms, letting him hide his face against his chest while Jisung took his hands into his own, rubbing comforting circles into their backs.

As much as he was hurting himself at the apparent hopelessness of their situation, feeling the pain coming from the other three boys, the boys he’d come to care for so much, love even, hurt Jisung a thousand times worse. He wanted to curse his empath powers for forcing him to feel just how bad the others were hurting, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t; wouldn’t it be much worse if he didn’t know what exactly it was they needed right now? Wouldn’t it be even worse if he didn’t know Felix desperately needed to hold on to someone, but wouldn’t have been able to stand someone holding him, that Hyunjin needed physical proof right now that at least this once, they were all there with him, and that all that Seungmin wanted was to be there to comfort someone else; but that if anyone would try to comfort him, that would be what would eventually break him down, too? And… At least with the help of his powers, he could take some of the pain away from the others; he could protect them, silently, even without them knowing… No, his powers weren’t as much a curse as they were a blessing!

At least while they were here together, for now, this time, he could help, he could do something, even if he was breaking apart on the inside himself. And yet he was terrified of how they would do once they woke up, returned to their own awake lives, with the knowledge that what they had here was fading, and would eventually be no more if a miracle didn’t happen to bring them together against all odds.

***

Felix was the first to wake up, and as soon as he did, it felt as if his world was collapsing on him. The pain of knowing he was losing his dreams, losing Jisung and Hyunjin and Seungmin, losing what they had and their world - since there was no way they would be able to meet each other in their awake lives - came crashing into him with a force that felt a thousand times worse than it had while he was asleep, with the others. It took no genius to figure out it must have been thanks to Jisung that he had felt relatively ok, like he would be ok, like he could bear it, while they were still together. Here, now, though…

Tears broke past the dam he had managed to keep them behind in the dream world unbidden, and a wet sob wrung itself out of his throat as he curled up on himself. One was followed by more, and more, and before long he was sobbing inconsolably into his sheets. 

That was how Chan found him when he went to check on him, finding it strange for Felix to miss showing up for breakfast.

“Lix?” He knocked on the door, but Felix lacked the strength to answer. “Lix, you ok? Can I come in?”

No answer.

“Lix, I’m coming in if you don’t answer…”

Felix didn’t answer, and Chan opened the door.

“Buddy?” He stepped into the room tentatively, clearly seeing Felix’s form under his blankets in his bed. “Hey, you good?”

Of course he wasn’t, and Chan figured as much, closing the distance to sit on the edge of Felix’s bed.

“Lix?” He tried again, gently tugging at the duvet, and Felix didn’t resist, letting Chan tug it away. “Oh, Lixie…” Chan’s heart broke, and he opened his arms for Felix. Felix didn’t even hesitate, mustering the strength to lean up just enough to throw himself into Chan’s arms. 

“Hey, I got you. What’s wrong, bub, hm?” Chan cooed, rocking Felix gently in his arms. 

Even if Felix had wanted to answer, he wouldn’t have been able to, though, too heartbroken to put his pain into words. 

And that was ok; Chan would hold him and comfort him for as long as he had to, as best as he could, without pressuring him. For that, Felix was eternally grateful; at least he had that much, at least he had Chan.

***

“Hyung, if you’re not coming out of this room right now, I’m breaking down the fucking door and dragging you out myself! You’ve pulled too much weird shit lately to not be worrying me like crazy right now, and I’m not above vandalism to keep me from having a full blown panic attack at this point!” 

It had been hours, and Hyunjin was still not responding to Jeongin’s calls; whether that be him blowing up Hyunjin’s phone or threatening to break down his door. By now, Jeongin was way past empty threats, too. He took a step back, measuring the distance, and landed a solid kick against Hyunjin’s door. Something cracked, but there was no visible damage, and the door had yet to give.

“I’m not joking, hyung!” Jeongin reiterated, and kicked the door again, with the same effect.

“What the fuck, Yang Jeongin!” Finally, an answer sounded from the room, and the lock clicked.

“Holy shit, hyung!” Jeongin wheezed when he saw Hyunjin’s face for the first time that day; dark purple circles hung under his red and rubbed raw, tear-swollen eyes, his nose looked as if its skin would finally crack if anyone even so much as thought about coming near it with another tissue, and overall, Hyunjin looked like the textbook definition of miserable. “Did someone die? What’s going on? What happened?!” 

Hyunjin deflated where he stood, his momentary anger at Jeongin for abusing his door vanishing under much more overwhelming, much more dear feelings.

“Nothing happened.” He started, ignoring Jeongin’s cut-the-bullshit expression. “And nothing will happen. And that’s the whole problem.” 

A new wave of tears - one that really shouldn’t be possible, considering how much Hyunjin had most likely already cried, by the looks of it - welled up, and Hyunjin didn’t even try to hold them back. 

Jeongin, while not usually the most cuddly person, instantly closed the distance to hug Hyunjin close.

“I understood, like, nothing about what you just said, but oh my god, hyungie… Come, I got you. Let’s get you to the couch first. And cleaned up. You are a mess!”

Hyunjin would have laughed on any other day, Jeongin acting so out of character from his usual self a real treat to see, but even that wasn’t possible for him right now. 

It took Jeongin holding him through this whole new wave of tears, and beyond that, for Hyunjin to calm down enough to talk again.

“Have you ever felt like… Like you’ve been given the promise of the best thing in the entire world, just to have it slowly, tauntingly be taken away from you again, before you could even reach it? Just like a… a ‘Haha, just kidding! Not for you!’?”

Jeongin blinked in confusion at Hyunjin’s words, not knowing what he meant nor what he was expected to answer.

“I… can’t say I have, no… But… If it’s still being taken away, and not gone yet, there is still hope, right? And… if there’s anything that can be done to keep it from being taken away, then there is still hope, too. Right?”

Maybe, Hyunjin had to concede. But maybe… Maybe he didn’t want to put his trust in that hope, because he had a feeling that would just make everything worse; so much worse!

***

“Jisung…” Younghyun sighed, shaking his head. “What is it with you today? It’s not like you to be this absentminded.”

Jisung felt tears prick at the backs of his eyes, and he averted them quickly. 

“I’m sorry, hyung. I’ll be more attentive. I’ll get it done right away.” His voice sounded monotone and lifeless even to himself.

“Jisung…!” Younghyun called out, worried, but Jisung was already getting up, ready to copy the files Younghyun needed as quickly as possible. “Jisung, you got the wrong pack…!”

Jisung froze in his steps, taking a deep, shaky breath. It was very shaky, indeed; extremely shaky. So shaky, it was impossible for Younghyun to miss, and he frowned as he watched Jisung for a moment. It was all too obvious that his assistant was not doing well, and it greatly worried Younghyun; and not just because he needed his assistant’s assistance.

“Sungie…?” He tried carefully, but it was the absolute most wrong thing to say, as it was that endearment that succeeded in breaking Jisung. His shoulders shook harder, and hiccups wracked Jisung’s frame as silent tears spilled down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I’m sorry…”

Younghyun sighed quietly, feeling bad for the younger.

“Oh, Sung… Come here…” He went and hugged him, letting Jisung bury his head against his chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- Didn’t know-... Ah, shit. Hey, it’s ok. I can make the copies myself, don’t take it to heart, ok? It’s ok, we all have some off days sometimes.” He tried to soothe Jisung, who kept sniffling quietly.

“Hyung, I-... I’m going to lose everything. Everything!” Jisung eventually piped up, rambling almost. “I- How can I- How can it all just- just be gone? How? What- How am I meant to live, like this, without… Without them, and without- I-...”

Younghyun just held him, rubbing his back comfortingly.

“You won’t, Sung. You’re not going to lose everything. I promise. You’ll be ok.”

Jisung shook his head, though. It was a nice gesture of Younghyun to promise that, to try and reassure him, but… He knew better. There was nothing Younghyun could do to help him fix this, help him avert the morbid fate their world was meeting.

***

“Are you trying to drill holes in the wall with your stare or do you want me to get the actual drill?” Minho asked after Seungmin had sat for nearly an hour, barely even blinking, and staring at the exact same spot on the wall the whole time.

“Huh?” Was all the answer Minho got in return, and he sighed deeply.

“Kim Seungmin, I have no idea what is going on, and it is probably not my business if you don’t want it to be, but for fuck’s sake… I care about you and you are worrying the hell out of me these days. Please just tell me what’s going on? Even if you think I won’t understand? Please! You said you would, after the thing with the sleeping pill yesterday…! What was that all about?”

Seungmin finally shook himself out of his reverie fully.

“It’s… Something I regret. Something… It doesn’t matter. I’ll be back to normal soon, hyung, don’t worry about it. No more weird sleeping habits, naps during the day, no more-...” He broke off, choking up, and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes as his breathing picked up and his eyes stung. “No more-...”

He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t even  _ think _ it. It was not fair! He’d gotten so little time of knowing the other three, and even less time spent with them! It was not  _ fair!  _ How could this be true?!

“M-min?” Minho had been seriously worried before, but his worry still managed to dial up a notch. “Hey, if those naps and weird sleeping schedules make you happy, then-... By all means, keep going for them. Don’t stop just because of me, not if it makes you this upset…”

Seungmin shook his head, though. “It’s not you, hyung. It’s-... Not you. It’ll… It’ll stop, all on it’s own, because, what’s the point-... the point of sleeping, when… When there’s no one-...” He broke off again, and this time with a humorless laugh to mask the sob.

“Damn, Minnie…” Minho shook his head, changing seats to sit next to Seungmin and pull him into a loose embrace. “Hey, as much as I want to know what’s going on, don’t force yourself to tell me if it’s hurting you. And on the other hand… Whatever is hurting you, if you need to talk, I’m here for you. And if you tell me not to goof off and try to lighten the mood and to just take you seriously, I will, ok? I always do, even when I crack jokes about it, just so you know. I’m just… I’m here for you, no matter what’s going on, ok?”

Seungmin nodded weakly, accepting Minho’s comfort, but he shook his head after a while, after he’d reigned himself in enough that his voice was functioning again.

“I don’t think I can talk about it, hyung. I just-... can’t.”

Minho nodded slowly, resting his chin on top of Seungmin’s head as he held him. 

“Ok. You don’t have to if you can’t. I understand. Or… I don’t, but that’s ok, too. I’m still here for you.”

And for that, Seungmin was eternally grateful. Minho might just be the only one he truly had in his corner in the world, if he couldn’t be with the other three anymore. Minho would be all that he’d have left... And had that exact situation been ok with him just a year ago, now… Now it wasn’t.

***

It didn’t happen all at once, losing what they had. It was a slow process, one that had already begun before they’d found out the meaning of their world disappearing, and that continued over time. 

It just became more frequent that one or another of them didn’t make it into their dream world when they slept, and eventually sometimes more than one didn’t make it at the same time. The world outside the cave continued to shrink, the Nothing taking more and more of the forest and the creatures, until eventually, they didn’t even leave the cave to see who’d been taken now anymore. They just couldn’t bear it, dreading the inevitable day they’d come back to find their closest friends among the creatures gone; not to mention they didn’t want to miss a single moment they could spend with each other, either. 

Their relationship changed, too, over these weeks and months. What had once been friendship, then close friendship, love in its most purest, innocent form abundant between them, became more as the desperation grew. 

The first time Jisung missed two days in a row, with Hyunjin missing the first day when he came back, Hyunjin practically pounced on Jisung when they saw each other again on the fourth day; and in front of a surprised but not unhappy with the development Felix, he locked Jisung in a pretty deep and heated kiss for a welcome.

“W-wow…” Jisung breathed as soon as they parted, eyes hazy and unfocused as he looked up at Hyunjin. “That was… Something…!”

Hyunjin would have been worried about Jisung’s reaction, had the other not kissed back just as fervently as soon as he realized what was going on.

“That was hot, to be honest!” Felix cheered quietly from where he was sitting, leaning back on his hands comfortably as he watched them make out, and eventually startled them out of their haze.

Hyunjin blushed, while Jisung paled.

“Uh, Lix…” He started, hesitant, and so, so unsure. Hyunjin, despite his face burning up, was more forward.

“Do you want a kiss, too?”

A grin spread on Felix’s face. “Hell yeah!” He sat up, bringing his hands forth to make grabby hands at Hyunjin. Hyunjin grinned, too, moving to crawl across the mountain of pillows and half into Felix’s lap. Before he could seal their lips together, Felix stopped him, though. “Only if… I mean, we’re not excluding Minnie from this, right? If he wants in?” His gaze travelled between Jisung and Hyunjin; Jisung looked mildly shocked by the sudden development between the other two, but not opposed, and Hyunjin just eager to kiss Felix, too.

“I… I mean… I don’t know what  _ this  _ is yet, but… I wasn’t planning on excluding Minnie. I actually wasn’t planning on anything, not even, uh, kissing Sung, but… I’m not choosing between any of you?”

Felix let out a little relieved sigh. “Good. Because I can’t choose between you guys, either. I care about all of you just the same. I  _ like _ all of you just the same.”

Hyunjin nodded in agreement, sitting back on his legs for the time being, no longer looming over Felix.

“Me too. I never intended to choose between either of you.”

Simultaneously, Felix and Hyunjin turned to Jisung with expectant expressions. Jisung flailed under the sudden attention, scrambling to-... to do what, he probably didn’t know, himself.

“This is really sudden for you, isn’t it…” Felix mused, his expression changing to an understanding one. “You don’t need to make any decisions now, Sung. Take your time. We’ll… I’ll be here for you whenever.”

Hyunjin nodded in agreement. “Yeah. No pressure, Sung.” Then he turned back to Felix with a raised eyebrow, and Felix’s lips tugged up into a smile as he nodded the go ahead. Hyunjin nearly bowled him over as he charged in, but his kiss was gentle still, even if intense. Felix laughed into it, kissing Hyunjin back enthusiastically before breaking the kiss and letting himself fall back the last few centimeters into the pillows.

“You’re like an overgrown, excited puppy sometimes, Jinnie.” He chuckled, pulling Hyunjin down to give him another peck. Hyunjin grinned.

“It’s called sweeping you off your feet!”

Felix couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, really! I thought you were going for knocking me out cold!”

“What can I say… I’m just a big, strong, stupid warrior after all. All brawns, no brains…!” Hyunjin mocked, and Felix chuckled again, just to turn serious a moment later and cup Hyunjin’s face to fix him with a serious look.

“Except we both know that’s not true. You have both the brawns  _ and _ the brains. Being a warrior and having the powers and physique of one doesn’t define you as a person.”

Hyunjin positively melted in Felix’s hold; that was, until Jisung cleared his throat next to them.

“Actually… I’d argue none of us are particularly gifted in the brain department. Except for Minnie; Minnie is perfect!”

While Felix and Hyunjin had both risen to argue, they settled back down as soon as Jisung tacked on that last part. They couldn’t argue with that; didn’t want to argue with that, for it was the truth.

“You do have a point…” Hyunjin admitted with a slow nod, and Jisung looked pretty satisfied. It didn’t last long, however, since it turned somewhat nervous as he turned to Felix.

“You do want to include me in this, too, right? I’m not misunderstanding?”

Felix blinked, confused for a moment, before he caught Jisung’s hand in his own and placed it on his chest, right over his heart.

“Feel.” He told Jisung. “With your powers.” He felt the need to clarify; they were, after all, all not particularly gifted in the brain department, and he didn’t want Jisung to misunderstand.

And of course, Jisung had been about to misunderstand. As soon as he focused on his powers, though, he could tell what Felix had meant, and he gasped at the overwhelming feeling that washed over him.

“H-holy shit…!” He cursed quietly, and Felix chuckled.

“Does that answer your question?” 

Slowly, Jisung nodded. The overwhelming feeling of pure love and adoration he had gleaned from Felix was so intense it almost hurt. It certainly succeeded in almost bringing him to tears with how intense it was, and how emotional it made him, himself. 

He was brought out of his thoughts, his feelings, by a hand gently covering his own that had balled to a fist in the fabric of Felix’s shirt.

“Can I kiss you?” He blurted out as soon as he was back in the present with his thoughts; clearly, his thoughts still weren’t fully with him, yet, though, since he had not meant to blurt that out, and his ears instantly burned up a vibrant red.

“Please.” Felix answered him, though, and Jisung’s breath caught in his throat. Hesitantly, he leaned in, just to see Felix’s lips fall open in anticipation. His heart beat up to his throat as he held his breath and closed the remaining distance, sealing Felix’s lips with his own. 

Felix made a noise that resembled a purr, and for a second, Jisung was unsure about how to proceed. Feeling his hesitation, Felix cupped Jisung’s face in his hands and held him in place as he deepened the kiss. Jisung gasped, going pliant in Felix’s hold, and Felix took over pacing the kiss.

“Fuck…” Came a whisper from next to them. “You were right, Lix. This  _ is  _ hot!”

Slowly, Felix ended their kiss, moving on to hold Jisung in a hug as he caught his breath, and locked eyes with Hyunjin over Jisung’s shoulder.

“Right?” He smiled suggestively, and Hyunjin groaned, scooting closer to catch Felix’s lips in a short kiss, sandwiching Jisung between them. When Hyunjin broke away again, he could only shake his head as he leaned his forehead against Jisung’s back.

“Fuck…” He breathed. “We should never have started this. I’ll never be able to get enough of you now…!”

Between him and Felix, Jisung chuckled, turning his head to give Hyunjin a mischievous grin.

“If I remember correctly,  _ you _ started this. On your own. Now, deal with the consequences.”

Hyunjin gave him a puzzled look, before he understood. Felix laughed when Hyunjin finally did and leaned in to kiss Jisung again. Now this… This would be fun!

***

The first thing Felix did when he woke up was call Seungmin, even still in bed.

“Lix?” Seungmin sounded worried when he picked up the call; it made sense, they usually only called each other with important news, and so far, all the important news that had led to calls were.. well, bad news.

“Minnie! It happened!” Felix grinned into the phone.

“W-what happened?” Seungmin sounded utterly confused, and Felix rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

_ “It _ happened! There have been kisses!” He still elaborated. From Seungmin’s end of the line came a choked, garbled, squeaked noise. Felix laughed.

“You ok there?”

“Who?!” Seungmin demanded, sounding breathless, yet at the same time he obviously tried to keep his voice down. 

“Jinnie.” Felix knew what Seungmin was asking even without him voicing his whole question. “As soon as Sung arrived, he pounced on him and kissed him. Poor Sung didn’t even know what was happening to him before he had Jinnie’s tongue down his throat.”

Again, a choked noise came from Seungmin.

“Oh my god… Please tell me it was not that bad!”

Felix laughed again, but shook his head. “Nah, it actually wasn’t. They were both really into it, too. And it was kinda really hot.”

Seungmin hissed quietly. “I can imagine! And what about you?”

“I kissed both, too.” Felix grinned like the proverbial cat that got the cream.

“No fair!” Seungmin whined. “I demand-” He broke off, lowering his voice to a quiet hiss before he continued. “I demand kisses next time I see you, too!”

Felix chuckled. “Of course, Min. That’s the plan.”

For a moment, silence answered him from Seungmin’s side. Then:

“Do you… Do you think, they…?” 

“Absolutely.” Felix answered the tentative question confidently. “I brought it up, and we all agreed that you are a part of this, too, if you want to be. We all want you to, too.”

A relieved sigh came from Seungmin.

“Oh… Good. I, uhm… Well, good thing Jinnie decided-... Actually, did he decide anything at all, or did he just act impulsively, in good Jinnie fashion?”

“What do you think?” Felix laughed. “Does Jinnie ever plan something through?”

Seungmin laughed. “Of course not. And thank god for that! At least one of us who doesn’t overthink and just gets things done! How much longer do you think we would have danced around each other if it hadn’t been for Jinnie’s impulsiveness?”

“Oh, gosh, please, don’t ask me that! I shudder at the thought! It was like a curse!”

Seungmin laughed, then broke off suddenly.

“Go to sleep early tonight, please? I plan to sleep in, if I-... If I make it in. I miss you…”

Felix’s smile fell off his face as he swallowed thickly, but he nodded regardless. “Of course. I’ll try to be there as early as possible. I miss you, too…”

Seungmin let out a shaky exhale. “I’ll see you then, ok? I-... I have to go now. But… I love you, Lix.”

Felix was glad he was still lying down, or else he might have fallen as his knees went weak. They had declared their love for each other before - multiple times, even - but this time it felt different. And this time, when he returned it, he did mean more by it, himself, too. 

“I love you, too, Minnie…” He whispered into the phone, suddenly choked up. “I’ll see you tonight…!”

***

The evolution of their relationship didn’t change much for the four, and at the same time, everything. 

On one hand, their interactions with each other didn’t change much from before; it only meant that instead of only hugs and cuddles, kisses and some making out was on the plan now, too, when they were together. But at the same time, it drastically changed how they saw their time together, and how they dealt with the knowledge that it was becoming less and less, slowly being taken away from them again. It didn’t show much when they were in the dream world, together, but it was all the more evident in their awake lives.

Hyunjin became practically a recluse, barely talking to anyone in his daily life anymore, yet at the same time, he became nearly desperate for Jeongin’s hugs. Jeongin, contrary to what he would usually have done and just desperate to give his friend some kind of comfort, allowed all of it. 

Even when Jeongin was studying, Hyunjin wasn’t far; even when he had his tutor, Changbin, over. He might not be actively cuddling Jeongin while he was studying, but he still had his feet resting against his thighs while he was staring blankly at nothing, tuning out the voices of his best friend and his tutor in the meantime. Until... well, until their words somehow managed to register with him, too, eventually.

“Hyung, you still have the airbnbs upstairs, don’t you? Do you happen to have one free next month? Second week?” Jeongin asked as he was packing up his things.

“Yeah. Second week, you say?” Changbin hummed, checking something on his phone. “I do, actually. Just the one, though.”

“Can you book it for me? My family’s coming over for a few days, including my older brother, and they need a place to stay. And I’d rather have them close than in a hotel somewhere across the city.”

Changbin nodded, tapping away on his phone. “Of course. Funny that you ask today, though, because just today, the other two were booked, too. And by friends, too!”

“Wait, you have three apartments as airbnbs upstairs?” Jeongin was speechless, and Hyunjin supposed he was a little surprised, too. “Just how many do you own by now?”

“Twenty-five!” Changbin declared proudly. “So, even if the ones in this building were all booked already, I could always have housed your family in the block that I just finished buying a few streets over.”

“Whoa, hyung! You’re really growing fast!” Jeongin was fascinated, and Changbin preened a little.

“I learned from the best! It’s all thanks to my hyung - actually, he’s one of the ones who’s coming over that same week you asked me for. I haven’t seen him in forever, and of course I couldn’t just let him stay in some old hotel room when he visits Seoul again for the first time in ages! Oh, I told you about him before, too! He’s the one who met his boyfriend in his dreams!” He turned to Hyunjin, who froze at the news. 

Slowly, mechanically, Hyunjin got up, and with one last nod at Changbin, exited the room; he didn’t rush, but he was gone so fast, anyway, that Jeongin and Changbin barely had time to react.

“What- What was that? Did I do something?” Changbin stammered, looking confused after Hyunjin.

“I don’t know why…” Jeongin mumbled, worried. “But dreams and anything to do with dreaming and sleeping is a sensitive topic for Jinnie hyung these days…”

***

A pounding headache plagued Jisung as he and Younghyun were being taken to yet another airport, in the back of a rather fancy car. He couldn’t care less about how fancy it was, though, since it was about the twentieth of these cars they’d been in in the past three weeks. And there were still three weeks to go of just the same, hopping from country to country, a different one every other day. He didn’t even know where they were in the world right now, and his body had long since given up even on jetlag. He was just exhausted, and would probably crash at any given moment.

Younghyun, on the other hand, was fuelled by an energy that Jisung could only dream of. And for good reason, he supposed, even though he didn’t want to think about it, since it hurt all the more. It was not like he was given a choice, though, as no matter how fancy the car, it was still an enclosed space and he had no choice but to overhear his boss’ conversation on the phone right now.

“Yeah, I miss you, too. I can’t wait to see you next month!” 

Something cramped in Jisung’s stomach. Oh, to have something like this to look forward to!

“I know it won’t be much, love, but you haven’t seen your family in so long, you absolutely have to make the most of that wedding! For your and your cousin’s sake! I’ll be happy just seeing you for even just five minutes.” 

Jisung felt that; he, too, would give anything to just see one of his own boyfriends for even just five minutes, while awake. Anything!

“One day, babe. When you and Binnie make it big, and my company takes off, too, we’ll have many, many more chances to be together. I hate it, too, but for now work comes first…”

Of course, work had to come first. If Younghyun could put work first, before his long time, long distance boyfriend, so could he! So had he, since he literally had no choice...

“Next time we’ll get one together, but you’re travelling with your cousin this time, and I’m not alone, either. Next time, love.” 

Now this, this was getting decidedly more private, and Jisung didn’t want to hear any of it. He tried with all his might to tune Younghyun out, not able to stand him hearing him talk to his boyfriend any longer. They might rarely get to be together, but at least they got to! And they had plans together, long term, they were working towards a common goal, they could work towards that goal! While him, and the others… They couldn’t. They were stuck, and the one thing they had together was being taken away from them!

He couldn’t stand it any longer, and silently, he started to cry. He tried to hide it, of course, turning his face as far away from Younghyun as he could, looking out the window. If only just he could tune out Younghyun’s sweet goodbyes with his boyfriend…

Eventually, Younghyun hung up the call. Jisung didn’t know if he had hidden the fact he was crying successfully, or if Younghyun was just simply respecting his privacy and the fact he very obviously signalled that he didn’t want to talk about it, but either way, Jisung was very, very grateful that he didn’t talk to him in that moment, and simply let him wallow in self-pity.

***

It was one of those days, one of the days where Felix hadn’t been able to get into the dream world the night before, and he made it through the day in a nearly apathetic state. Of course, Chan had since found out that something was truly wrong on those days, even though Felix didn’t tell him what, and had learned to treat Felix with special care on them. And yet, it was one of those days, when it was unclear if anything said to Felix would get through to him, that Chan broke the news to him.

“Lix, come sit with me for a moment.”

Felix walked mechanically to their little living room, sitting down on the couch and giving Chan a listless stare.

“So… I wanted to tell you this before, but it never seemed to be a good moment. I know, you don’t want to talk about it, and I won’t force you to. It’s just… Since you’ve been struggling so much lately, I didn’t want to spring this on you and add extra stress, but maybe… Maybe it’ll even do you some good, you know?”

Felix really didn’t know, and he couldn’t for his life figure out what the hell Chan was talking about.

“Anyway, it’s… We’ve been invited to our cousin Jae’s wedding. And auntie paid for tickets for both of us to come to Korea to go! The whole family is really excited to see us and to get to know you better!”

He sounded so excited, but Felix felt as if a rock had been placed in his stomach instead.

Korea. He’d go to Korea, where Hyunjin lived. He’d be so close, and yet… Weddings and the days around them were a mess, and if the family really wanted to get to know him, he’d for sure be so busy during his whole stay he wouldn’t have a moment to breathe, never mind-

Fuck, it was unfair! He’d be so close, so close to one of his boyfriends, and yet so far! He could be anywhere in the country, or just a few blocks away from Hyunjin, and he probably wouldn’t even know; or worse yet, he would know and still not be able to do anything about it, because he was visiting family, and Chan and the whole rest of them knew he knew no one in Korea to make any excuses and slink away to go meet up with Hyunjin.

Internally, he screamed, as Chan continued to happily tell him about their extended family that he was clearly excited to see again, and that Felix couldn’t give two shits about. And then, Chan unknowingly drove the nail in the coffin for Felix.

“Also, it just so happens that my babe will be in town at the same time we are, so, if I’m lucky… We  _ might _ get to meet up and even squeeze a date in!” Chan nearly squealed with excitement, while Felix’s heart bled. He wanted to be happy for Chan, his cousin deserved to be happy, he deserved all the happiness in the world, but all Felix could feel was pure jealousy. Chan would get to meet his boyfriend, while Felix… Felix would be so close to one of his own boyfriends, and there was no way for him to see him, while the little time they had, that small thing, their dreams together, was being taken from them little by little until they would lose it completely. 

Felix wished he could just not go. He wished he could just say no, say he’d stay behind, at least not put himself through that torture, but… Chan was so excited about the whole thing, and he made it a point to include Felix in the reasons why he was excited, that Felix couldn’t bring himself to say anything to dampen Chan’s mood. Also, apparently the tickets were already bought, too, and Chan had raised him better than to reject such a generous gift, given out of the pureness of one’s heart. No, he would have to go, even if it destroyed him inside, and he vowed to himself that he would do anything in his power to put on an excited mask for Chan’s sake, to not ruin the trip for him who was so excited about it. He owed him that much.

In the end, he failed days before they even left for Korea, though, and once again, Chan was nothing but understanding. He even did most of the packing for Felix, making sure he had everything he could possibly need when Felix just kept spacing out through the whole process, lost in thought. Then again, that was just what Chan did, and had always done: look out for Felix, care for him, and fill all the holes in his life as best as he could. Felix didn’t deserve someone as pure as Chan, Felix was acutely aware of that, but he was so, so grateful for him. Even if he dragged him halfway across the globe to suffer in misery while too caught up in his own happiness to notice Felix’s suffering.

***

Seungmin trudged home, utterly exhausted. His last final was finally over, he was free for a few weeks before he had to throw himself into schoolwork again. Maybe he would look into getting an internship - paid, if possible - for the break between semesters, just to have something to fill his days and keep him from thinking too much. 

Relieved, he eventually made it home, letting the door fall shut behind him and dropping his things where he stood to pick them up later. Just this once, he would allow himself to be messy-

“Seungmin?”

Seungmin hedged involuntarily at Minho’s call, not liking the tone of voice he was using. He sounded too nervous and at the same time too excited for Seungmin to trust that tone of voice.

“Yeah…?” He called back. “Or does anyone else I don’t know about have a key to the house?”

Minho snorted, appearing in the doorway to the living room.

“Of course not. I’m just- Come here for a second?”

Ok, what the hell…? To say Seungmin was wary when Minho addressed him like that was an understatement.

“What is it-”

“We’re going on a trip!” Minho interrupted him before he could even finish his question.

“We what now?!”

“We’re going on a trip! You finished your last exam today, right?”

Seungmin could only stare at Minho in bewilderment, fearing his hyung had truly lost it now. Or, which was a lot more likely, he was messing with him; which would be really cruel, since Minho knew how much Seungmin longed to be able to travel, and to tease him with that was just… Then again, Minho wasn’t that kind of person. 

“Y-yeah… But… A trip?” It still didn’t make sense to Seungmin.

“Yes! Today! Get packing!”

Seungmin snorted. “With all due respect, hyung, are you high? With what money are we going anywhere?”

“With mine!” Minho answered cheerily. “Well, my parent’s.” He clarified when Seungmin gave him a droll stare.

“Right…” 

“I’m serious.” Minho certainly sounded the part, which only worried Seungmin more. “Let’s sit down, ok? I should explain this a bit better.”

“No kidding…” Seungmin muttered, but humored Minho and sat down on the couch with him. “From the start, please.”

“Ok.” Minho nodded. “So… It’s been forever since I’ve been home, and my parents decided it was too long. And… They want to celebrate me finishing the theoretical part of my course, my brother’s first whole year in college, and my baby brother’s early college acceptance, and want me home for that. So, they bought me a ticket. But, since I can’t fly alone, because of my phobias, I essentially got a second, blanco ticket to bring anyone else along with me. And of course, I chose you.”

Seungmin stared at Minho for a long moment.

“You’re crazy.” He stated eventually, deadpan.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point.” Minho waved him off. “Please? Come with me? You need to get out for a while, too, Min. A trip would do you really good, I’m sure. And I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun with my family, too. We’re staying in the same apartment building as my middle brother, and him and his roommate are close in age to you; I’m sure you’ll get along great with them, too. And my parents really want to meet you, too, since I keep talking about you. They are really curious about the guy who’s managed to live with me for two years without skinning me alive in my sleep and still retains his sanity.”

Seungmin couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“Who said my sanity was still around?”

“Ok, you have a point.” Minho conceded easily. “Will you come, though?”

Seungmin shook his head.

“You’re really crazy, hyung.”

“We’ve already established that. Please?”

Seungmin couldn’t help but gag as Minho gave him puppy eyes, trying really hard at it, too.

“Gross. Stop that!”

“Please, Minnie! My only and best friend, the sole voice of reason I - sometimes - listen to in my life! Please, please, come with me!” Minho begged, and Seungmin was too shocked by that fact alone to stop him. “Please, I won’t be able to go if I don’t have anyone to go with me on the plane, and I really, really want to go! I really miss my little brothers…!”

“Stop guilt tripping me!” Seungmin huffed, kicking at Minho’s shin.

“I don’t know if I will; is it working?” Minho looked exaggeratedly hopeful, but there was genuine hope in his expression, too. 

Seungmin hesitated. This was crazy, Minho was crazy, the whole situation was crazy, he was not prepared for this! On the other hand, though, he had nothing planned for the break, he certainly didn’t feel like going to visit his own family if he wanted to actually retain any of the sanity Minho’s parents believed him to still have, so…

“Oh, what the hell. Fine, why not!” He conceded in a spur-of-the moment decision.

An overjoyed yell answered him from Minho, and before he knew what was going on, Seungmin found himself with a lap full of Minho, choking him in a tight hug.

“Hyung! Get  _ off  _ me, before I change my mind!” He shoved at the older, and Minho actually let go of him.

“Thank you!” Minho still breathed out, words tripping over each other in genuine gratitude. “Let’s get packing! The plane leaves in four hours!”

Seungmin cursed, violently, and sprinted off to his room; that left him with no more than half an hour to pack! What the hell, Lee Minho!

***

By the time they landed in Korea, Seungmin was ready to die. He couldn’t even count how many hours he’d been awake for anymore, since he hadn’t been able to catch a wink of sleep on the whole plane ride, having to stay awake to entertain and distract Minho so the elder wouldn’t flip his shit if he remembered where exactly he was at any point.

Somehow, Minho was still full of energy - adrenaline, probably - when they landed, and handled the whole immigration process for them, found a taxi, and got them to their destination. It was a rather nice looking apartment building - as far as Seungmin could see in the fading daylight, at least - in a beautiful area of the city. Then again, if Minho’s parents could afford to just pay for extra tickets for one more person just to accompany their son on plane rides just like that, it made sense that they wouldn’t let their middle son live in just any dingy old place when he went off to college, too.

Just like Minho had promised, his family welcomed Seungmin enthusiastically and warmly, and Seungmin was grateful for that. But, he was even more grateful when Minho eventually excused them, explaining how they’d been awake for nearly thirty-six hours now, and that they really, really needed some sleep. As soon as his head hit the pillow of the rather comfortable bed Seungmin had been told was his for the stay, he was out like a light.

Moments later, he opened his eyes again to the familiar sight of the cave in their dream world.

“Minnie!” He was greeted enthusiastically, and found himself with an arm full of Jisung a heartbeat later.

“Sung…” He choked out past his constricted throat. “And Jinnie?”

“And Lix, too!” Hyunjin smiled behind Jisung, and Felix plopped down next to him.

“Hi!”

Seungmin couldn’t believe it. It had been ages since the four of them had found themselves all together in the dream world. Most days these days, there were no more than two of them there at any point, ever.

“You’re all here…” His voice was still choked even after Jisung had let go of him, no longer constricting his throat, arms now wrapped around his waist.

“We are. How… How come you are here right now?”

Seungmin shook his head.

“You’ll never believe me… Guess where I am right now; in the awake world.”

“In… In bed?” Hyunjin tried, tentatively, and Seungmin rolled his eyes.

“Well, of course! But, in the world.”

“Where?” Felix couldn’t wait, not wanting to guess, and Seungmin humored him.

“In Korea. Seoul, specifically.” He ended the torment.

“No way!” Jisung gasped, but Seungmin nodded.

“Yes way. My roommate dragged me with him, spontaneously. He can’t fly alone because he has a violent fear of flying and acrophobia and what not, so he needed someone to come with him. And his parents just bought a second ticket so he could take me with him, and I’m now invited to all the family celebrations they have planned for the week we are here. He sprung that on me half an hour before we had to leave for the airport, and, well, now I’m here. A few days in Seoul, and then a few more in Gimpo, before we head back to America.”

Silence answered him for a moment. Then:

“This is so fucked up…” Jisung murmured, and Hyunjin and Felix nodded in agreement.

“We are in Korea right now, too.” Felix explained when Seungmin looked between the three of them, confused. “I’m here for a wedding, with my cousin. Our family flew us in. And Jisung is here for work, with his boss.”

“No way…!” Seungmin repeated Jisung’s earlier words.

“Yes way.” Jisung reiterated Seungmin’s answer from earlier, too. “We are so close right now… So, so close. That’s probably why we’re all here right now. But… We’re still so far… Lix and I have a packed schedule, and you… You mentioned family celebrations?”

Seungmin groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

“This can’t be real… It can’t! What- what a cruel joke!”

But it was real. And at least, they were on the same sleeping schedule, and had the whole night together. And they made the most of it, not knowing when the next opportunity for that would be; or if it would ever happen again, at all.

Luck would have it, they did find themselves together, the four of them, the very next night, too, and wasted no time falling into each other’s arms again. They didn’t think to venture outside the cave, their time together too precious as they held on to each other. 

And yet, it was abruptly cut short not too far into the night, shaking them all in their sleep.

“What- what’s going on?” Jisung asked, startled, but before anyone could answer, or find out in the first place, he disappeared into thin air as he woke up. Without even getting to say anything, Felix followed, and all Seungmin managed to catch from Hyunjin was a terrified expression, before both of them were torn out of their sleep as well.


	9. Desperate Measures

Blaring noise, deafening and seemingly coming from everywhere at once, assaulted Seungmin’s eardrums as soon as he woke up. Disoriented from sleep as he was, combined with his usual sensitivity to loud noises, he froze up before he could even fully wake up. The noise was just too much, he felt trapped within it, walls closing in and ceiling coming down on him while his entire body was held down by a crushing weight, completely immobilizing him while his mind screamed at him - even louder than the noise - to get out. 

“Seungmin!” 

Vaguely, he could hear someone call his name in the distance.

“Shit, Seungmin! Get up, we have to get out!”

Yeah, that much Seungmin had already figured on his own; but how was he supposed to do that if his body was not cooperating?!

Minho came into view in the half-light of the dark room, and roughly pulled the covers off him, pulling at him, too, to get him to stand up. Seungmin tried to cooperate, he really did, but his efforts were for naught.

“Who told you to grow so stupidly tall, huh?!” Minho groaned while half carrying, half dragging Seungmin out of the room and the apartment altogether.

Seungmin didn’t remember the way down several flights of stairs and outside, the only things registering in his mind being the loud noise and Minho.

***

Felix woke up surrounded by darkness. Blinking his eyes as hard as he could, he tried to see something, but there was nothing. Maybe a sliver, coming from the general direction of the window of the room, but it was not enough to see anything.

“Ch-Chan?!” He called out, his voice cracking with fear. “Channie!” He wanted to yell, scream, call for help, but his voice didn’t carry. His breathing became laboured, panic crashing over him in waves, and between not getting enough air into his lungs, his calls grew weaker, too. 

“Felix!” The door to Felix’s room slammed open, the light of a phone flooding the room. “Felix, are you- Oh shit, Felix, I’m so sorry! I’m here; I’m here now.”

Chan rushed over to the bed, Felix scrambling to disentangle himself from his covers and get out of the bed and to Chan, and the light he was shining at him.

“Come, we have to get out of here. The building is on fire!” Chan explained hastily as he grabbed Felix’s hand, pulling him up and with him.

Only then did the alarm cutting through the darkness register with Felix, but he had no time to dwell on it as he tried to stumble alongside Chan. His breathing was still not back to normal, though, continuing laboured but flat and making him dizzy. The darkness around them, everywhere, consuming everything that wasn’t right in front of them where Chan’s phone flashlight illuminated their path, didn’t allow Felix to catch his breath, though. It seemed to reach out to him with sticky, dark fingers, curling around his arms, his legs, his neck, his entire body, holding him back, pulling him, back into the depths of its murkiness, away from Chan and his flashlight. Before they even reached the front door, Felix’s last reserves of strength left him and he lost the battle against the coiled tendrils of darkness around his body, stumbling and falling, and damn near pulling Chan with him.

“Fuck, Lix! We have to- Damn it!” Chan exasperated, but there was no getting Felix back onto his own two feet. 

In an attempt spurred on by desperation, Chan picked Felix up, throwing him over his shoulder to have one hand free to light the way with his phone, and carried him out of the building. He would deal with Felix’s panic once their lives weren’t in immediate danger anymore.

***

Jisung bit at his nails nervously as he watched more and more people arrive at the curbside Younghyun had dragged him out to once he’d woken up. 

“There’s Changbin, over there!” Younghyun breathed out in relief, pointing off to the side. Jisung followed where he was pointing with his gaze, finding the guy. He knew Changbin, in theory; he was Younghyun’s friend who rented out the apartment they were staying in, after all. But, who was that with him, the guy he was holding, crouched on the ground?

Thankfully, Younghyun was starting off in Changbin’s direction, giving Jisung an excuse to follow him, and something to focus on that wasn’t the multitude of people gathering around them.

“You’re ok, you’re safe now. The fire is far, far away. It can’t get to you, it won’t come closer, you’re safe here, I promise. What was that?”

The boy on the ground whimpered something that Jisung couldn’t understand, and Changbin frowned.

“I have no idea who that is, but I’m going to find Jeongin for you, ok?” Changbin stood up to look around, trying to find that Jeongin guy, presumably, but the boy called out in distress and Changbin crouched down again, holding him and instead pulling out his phone to make a call.

“Jeongin? Did you make it out yet? Good, good! Listen, I’m with Hyunjin, other side of the road, in front of the house with the white iron fence, by the tree. Can you come over? He’s asking for someone, I have no idea who, but I figured you might… Anyway, you’re closer with him than I am, you could comfort him better, he’s- Yeah, his phobia. Please?”

Jisung stiffened as he heard the name from Changbin’s lips, paired with the mention of a phobia, and following him reassuring the boy he was safe from the fire… Could it be-

“Lix, it’s ok, we’re out now, we’re outside, there’s light, it’s not dark anymore, there are lights on, come on… Breathe, Felix, breathe…!”

Jisung thought he must be dreaming, whipping around so fast he stumbled against Younghyun, who was turning in the same direction as him. Younghyun caught him, keeping him from falling, and it was a good thing he kept holding on.

“No way!” A voice that sounded so much like Seungmin’s, so incredibly similar Jisung wouldn’t have been able to tell it apart if his life depended on it, sounded out from somewhere close to them. And then a guy rushed past them, and Jisung was  _ sure _ it was Seungmin! It could only be him, the height, the hair, the way he ran...!

Jisung stumbled back, flailing, but only ended up pushing against Younghyun.

“What-...  _ Oh!”  _ Younghyun tightened his hold on Jisung. “Oh, no. Don’t you dare run, Han Jisung! The last thing you want to do now is run! Trust me, I’ve been there.”

Jisung barely heard him, though, eyes fixed intently on the boy who’d just run past them and the ones he was approaching, two blondes crouched on the ground close to a streetlight.

“Seungmin?” Jisung finally found his voice again, calling out, and the guy stopped short in his hurry to look back at him, eyes growing wide as saucers when they fell on him. “Felix? And Hyunjin?” He turned around, glancing at where the guy from before was now being helped up by a friend, presumably, but stopped mid movement to look over at the call of his name. Jisung’s breath hitched, and so did Hyunjin’s when their eyes met. “Is this… real?”

“Lix!” Their attention was caught by the guy from before calling for Felix again, though, and they found him cradling the other’s limp body now. That brought movement into all of them, Seungmin the first to reach the pair and pushing the other blonde back to cup the unconscious guy’s face in his hands.

“Just unconscious. Superficial. Hyperventilation? Give me your phone.” He held his hand out impatiently at the other guy, and when he hesitated, too perplexed to react, Seungmin simply reached past him, picking up the phone lying on the asphalt, still with the flashlight on, to shine directly at the face of Unconscious Guy.

Jisung was sure, a hundred percent, that this was his -  _ their -  _ Felix. He would know those freckles anywhere, the little button nose, those beautifully sculpted lips - even though they were rather pale right now, tinted an unbecoming shade of blue, as was the rest of his face.

“What- who- Who are you, and what are you doing?!” The guy holding Felix stammered, but Seungmin didn’t even so much as look up at him. 

“Felix, wake up!” He called gently, cradling Felix’s face with his free hand. “Wake up, Lixie. Come on.” The way he caressed the apple of Felix’s cheek was so tender, it seemed to put the guy holding him at ease a little. “Felix is terrified of the dark, so we have to make sure he knows there is no darkness around him anymore when we wake him up. Better blinded by light than by darkness, in this case.” He processed to explain, then. “His unconsciousness is just superficial, he should come to any moment now- ah, there you are. Hey, Lixie.”

Felix groaned, turning his head away from the light, screwing his eyes shut tightly.

“Go away…!” Felix groaned, blindly swatting at Seungmin’s hand. 

“No chance! Are you ready to open your eyes now? There is a streetlight right above us, no darkness around. You’ll be just fine.”

Slowly, Felix peered out from his hiding spot, up at the one holding him and then Seungmin.

“Min?” He asked, incredulous, and for the first time, Seungmin untensed, too.

“Yeah. Hi there. Sung and Jinnie are here, too.”

Felix shook his head, incredulous. “I’m still unconscious, right? This is not true. I’m dreaming?”

“Does this look like our dream world to you? You are awake, Lix. This is real.”

Felix was still processing that, when suddenly the sound of sirens reached them and grew rapidly louder. Seungmin paled, his hand - now resting on Felix’s shoulder - started to shake as he held on, bunching in the fabric of his shirt. Felix was too slow to react, but suddenly, a pair of hands came down over Seungmin’s ears, covering them tightly against the noise. They moved with him as Seungmin turned his head to look up at who it was that was protecting him against the noise, to find Hyunjin smiling down at him.

“Hey.” He mouthed, and Seungmin gave him a shaky smile back, his own hands coming up to cover Hyunjin’s over his own ears, holding them in place. The sirens cut off when the fire trucks they belonged to came to a stop in front of the building they had just evacuated, and slowly, they lowered their joined hands. Together with Felix and the guy holding him, they got up, moving out of the way as the arrival of more people forced them to do so. Together, they turned to the center of the commotion, the house they had come from, and followed the action of the fire trucks: firemen pouring out of the cars, hoses being rolled out and connected to hydrants, ladders extending towards the roof of the building, where a flickering orange lit up billowing clouds of black from underneath.

Felix was the first to turn away from the scenario, focusing on Hyunjin next to him, who had his terrified eyes fixed on the flickering light of the fire against the smoke. Without thinking twice, Felix took Hyunjin’s face between his hands and spun them both around, getting Hyunjin to turn his back to the building.

“Don’t look. Look at me, only at me.” Felix tried to persuade a slightly struggling Hyunjin, not allowing him to turn back around. Instead, he pulled his face closer. “Focus on me, just on me. Count my freckles!” He insisted, and Hyunjin stopped struggling. For a moment, it looked as if he was following Felix’s advice, but then he closed his eyes with a deep, shaky breath.

“Not working?” Felix murmured, and Hyunjin shook his head.

“Hmm… Can I try something else?”

Hyunjin opened his eyes just a little, peering down at Felix with a simultaneously curious and desperate expression.

“I know something that could distract you…” Felix started, a hint of hesitation in his voice. “I could-... Can I kiss you?”

Hyunjin’s eyes widened in shock.

“Wha-?!” He wheezed, but just as Felix was about to apologize and tell him to forget he had ever said anything, Hyunjin nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Please!” He gave his determined answer.

Without wasting another moment, Felix locked Hyunjin’s lips with his own. It was effective in distracting Hyunjin from the fire, too, and Felix from the fact it was night and there were spaces around them - very close to them, in fact - where the light didn’t reach and that were shrouded in impenetrable darkness. 

It distracted both from everything else, too, until Seungmin's angry voice penetrated their bubble of blissful ignorance.

"What the hell do all these people need to be out here at this time for when it's not their house that's on fire! You do realize you are just making it harder for the first responders to do their work and for those affected to get the help they need, right?! Stop crowding us- I swear to fuck, shove him  _ one more time _ , I fucking  _ dare _ you!!"

Seungmin was standing protectively in front of Jisung, blocking the crowd of curious onlookers from getting too close to him. Despite the severity of Seungmin's anger being obvious to those who knew him, the vast majority of the people didn't care, ignoring him completely as they shoved and squeezed to get a better view of the events unfolding on the other side of the road.

Hyunjin shared a look with Felix, and it was all they needed to push closer to Seungmin and Jisung, positioning themselves protectively on either side of Jisung and further blocking the crowd from getting closer to him.

While Felix tugged Jisung closer, holding him and getting him to shift his focus from his surroundings to him, Hyunjin stepped up next to Seungmin. Calmly, he took the phone Seungmin was still holding out of his hand, pretending to unlock it. 

"Hey, everyone! Care to smile for the camera, just so you all look pretty in the video that goes to the cops after this is over to identify the people who came just to block the road and hinder first responders at a disaster scene? "

He got a bunch of dirty looks, but the trick worked: the small crowd quickly dispersed, scurrying off elsewhere, out of reach of the phone camera's viewfinder and therefore far enough away to give Jisung room to breathe. 

Hyunjin turned around triumphantly, just to spot the shine of fire flaring against vapor and smoke as the firefighters started putting it out, and immediately the familiar paralyzing feeling surged through him again.

“Don’t look, Jinnie!” A set of hands was on his shoulders in no time, turning him around again. It was Jisung this time. “Focus on me-” 

Bad timing would have it that more sirens sounded as some more cop cars arrived, and Seungmin flinched again, taking a stumbling step back. Hands came over his ears in an instant, and he turned to see Felix behind him. “I got you.” He mouthed, and Seungmin gave him a shaky smile, catching out of the corner of his eye Jisung hugging Hyunjin, both with their eyes closed, one against the fire, the other the crowds still visible gathered a ways away. 

In the middle of all the confusion, neither of the four noticed their friends and family exchange very confused looks, taken aback by their behaviour with seemingly strangers. Before they could ask their oddly behaving loved ones what the hell was going on, they were collectively ushered further away by the policial reinforcements. 

Their nocturnal getups, some of them very obviously clad in nothing more than pyjamas, saved them from being accused of being simply hindering bystanders and identified them as displaced victims of the fire. Thankfully, that also meant they were finally directed somewhere to get first aid in the form of blankets, heating pads and hot drinks against the cold of the night air.

Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin huddled together even after being ushered over to the ambulances standing nearby, wrapped in blankets and equipped with heating materials. Finally there, at a safe distance from the commotion surrounding the house they had all been in, they were able to calm down enough to understand the reality of the situation. And yet, they didn’t need to exchange words, simple glances enough for now to convey what they were all, collectively, thinking.

Just how improbable was it that they had all ended up spending two whole days settled not just in the same area of the country, the same city, but the same  _ building _ ?! All without knowing it? And that it took a fucking  _ housefire _ for them to find out and meet each other? Just how desperate must Fate have gotten with them if it resorted to such measures…?

“Alright, everyone!” Changbin’s call finally burst the little bubble only the four existed in, calling them over to where Chan, Minho, Jeongin and Younghyun were gathered, together with the rest of Jeongin and Minho’s family. “I have some empty apartments in another building, a few blocks from here, where everyone can stay for the night. If you want to. Unless you’d rather go for a hotel… I’ll obviously handle the expenses! The choice is up to you.”

“It’s alright, Binnie.” Younghyun smiled comfortingly. “I’ll gladly take the offer to stay in another of your apartments. ”

Changbin gave him a grateful smile, but before he could thank him verbally, he was interrupted by Chan. 

“I’ll go with Younghyun- I mean, I’ll take your offer, too, Binnie. No hotel expenses needed for me. And, Felix…?”

Felix jumped a little at being addressed so suddenly, still caught up on how his cousin’s hand was tightly laced with the stranger’s next to him. 

“I- uh- Yeah. That. I’m, I’m good? Apartment. Yes.” He stammered incoherently. Thankfully, he still got the intended message across. 

“We’ll also take the apartment offer, hyung. Right, mom?”

Jeongin’s mother nodded at her son’s question, relieving Changbin immensely and leaving him with only three answers open. He turned to the closely huddled together group of four, out of which Hyunjin took the initiative to speak for the rest of them.

“We’re staying together. With Lix.”

An expectant silence settled over the two groups, but neither wanted to be the first to break it.

“Right… I’m calling some cabs to drive us over.” Changbin eventually stepped out of the tense but silent face-off, all but fleeing the scene. 

With the spell of silence broken, Minho shook his head with an amused chuckle.

“I can’t wait to hear the explanation for  _ that.” _ He nodded over at the four, earning a pleading look from Seungmin, which he ignored.

“Yeah… I’m curious, too.” Jeongin agreed with his older brother. “What in the world, Jinnie-hyung? When- How- Who-?”

“Later.” Chan interrupted him. “I just  _ know _ they have a perfectly plausible explanation for this. Just give them a moment, and let us all get someplace warm first.”

Jeongin, despite only having a vague idea who Chan was through tales from Changbin, trusted him implicitly and backed down; not without keeping up his curious, calculating glances, though. 

“I suppose you want to go together, huh?” Younghyun wagered when the first cab arrived, addressing Jisung and the ones with him. “Well then, get in.” He stepped back, holding the door of the taxi open. 

With encouraging nods from Chan and Minho, Felix, Seungmin and Hyunjin followed Jisung into the cab, while Changbin gave the driver the address. 

The ride was short, and still, by the time they arrived at their destination, the three sitting in the back badly missed Seungmin’s presence close to them already, since he’d been forced to take the passenger seat. As soon as they had piled out of the car and been granted access to the lobby of the high rise Changbin partly owned, they huddled close together again.

“Do you think they will understand?” Hyunjin asked nervously, eventually, speaking for the first time since they had left the others. 

“I’m sure Younghyun-hyung will. He knows already, I think…” Jisung whispered, though his hand felt clammy in Seungmin’s.

“I’m scared of what Minho-hyung will think, to be honest. And his brother… I don’t know him, but…?”

“He’s my best friend. Jeongin, I mean. And yet…”

“But they won’t, like… Disown you, right? Cancel your friendships? I’m pretty sure Chan’s safe, but the others…” Felix worried, clinging tighter to Hyunjin’s back, to comfort both himself and the other. 

“I… don’t think so? I’m still scared, though…” Seungmin admitted, and Hyunjin hummed in agreement. 

Before anyone could say anything else, Minho, Jeongin and their family arrived, shortly after followed by Younghyun, Chan and Changbin. 

“Alright, then. Lee Family, floor three, apartment twenty five… Here’s the passcode.” Changbin scribbled on a notepad, before tearing the page off and handing it to Minho and Jeongin’s father, who nodded and made his way to the elevators. Minho and Jeongin made no move to follow him, their mother and their little brother.

“Channie-hyung… Younghyun-hyung?”

The two exchanged a longing glance, before turning hope-filled looks to Felix and Jisung.

“Right. Everyone is dying for an explanation, I get it.” Changbin sighed when he noticed Jeongin and Minho still standing next to them, too. “How about we chat upstairs? Floor eight, apartment number eighteen. That’s the biggest one I got. Let’s go. Lovers first!”

Chan looked as if he was about to take a step forward, but stopped short when it became clear Changbin had clearly meant another set of lovers. 

The elevator doors closed behind the four recently united, giving them another moment of privacy.

“We’re not getting out of this one…” Hyunjin stated the obvious in a murmur.

“What do we tell them?” Jisung hissed urgently, nervousness clearly getting the better of him. “I don’t know any of these people! Except for Younghyun, that is.”

“That’s your boss, right?”

“Yeah.” 

“You said he’s met someone in a dream before. He’ll get it. And maybe he can help us explain, so we don’t sound too crazy. He looks respectable enough to be easily trusted.” Seungmin reasoned, and Jisung couldn’t find a fault in his logic.

“I- I just thought of something.” Hyunjin cut in then. “He’s here with his boyfriend. He was holding hands with that other guy, right? Changbin-hyung said his friend, the one he learned from - meaning Sung’s boss - met his boyfriend in a dream. That means there’s two people here who’ll get it, already!”

“That boyfriend is my cousin.” For the first time, Felix spoke up, voice hoarse. “My cousin who practically raised me, who’s like a brother. And he never- He never  _ told me- _ ” He sounded as if he was about to lose his mind, and Seungmin moved to hug Felix tight.

“He never told you how he met that boyfriend of his?”

Felix shook his head.

“He only said he finally met the boy of his dreams one day… Which didn’t make sense to me at the time, because this guy-... No offense, he just doesn’t look at all like what Chan always said his type was, so I always brushed it off as a joke. I didn’t think- Didn’t think he meant it  _ like that!” _

“To be fair, would you have believed him if he had told you?”

“Probably not. But- He could have said something, at least when I basically told him- I  _ told _ him I was meeting people in my dreams! And he never- He never thought to say anything?!”

“Maybe he couldn’t.” Jisung hummed thoughtfully. “I overheard some of hyung’s calls with him, accidentally. And there was talk about how they can’t interfere with something, and thinking back, those calls could have been about us… I just never connected any dots, but it would make sense...”

“Do you think they knew about us?” Seungmin asked then, still holding on to Felix tightly, chin resting on his shoulder as he turned them so they could both look at Jisung.

“I don’t know. But they could have, maybe…”

Their conversation was cut short by the elevator coming to a halt and the doors opening to let them out. As soon as they had stepped off, the other elevator with the remaining five displaced residents arrived, too, and Changbin led them to a door, unlocking it and ushering them inside. 

“Right!” Minho stated with finality when everyone had finally found a space to sit on in the spacious living area. “I need some answers here, because I’m confused. Why is my brother’s roommate kissing  _ my _ roommate’s neck, when he was kissing the other kid earlier, and why is said other kid now all wrapped around yet another kid?! I don’t get it.”

“I, uh, supposed everyone knew each other, in some way, but… I’m guessing not?” Changbin looked confused between the people gathered around him, prompting for an answer.

“We don’t.” Chan answered him, with an amused chuckle, of all things. “Which makes this even more interesting.”

The only thing missing in the picture of Chan’s expectant expression was a bowl of popcorn as he leaned back, visibly ready for some good entertainment.

“Ok, I can’t do this on an empty stomach. I’m making some tea, and then we’ll do this properly.” Changbin decided, getting up to leave for the open plan kitchen. No one talked while he was gone, but once he returned with tea and cups for everyone, distributed everything and settled down, he declared the explaining session open.

“Let’s sort this out, and start with some introductions. I’m Changbin, Jeongin and Hyunjin’s landlord and Jeongin’s tutor. I know Younghyun-hyung because we used to work together, years ago; I learned from him. And I know Chan-hyung through him, and because we make music together. And Minho-hyung through Jeongin. Now, the rest of you guys…”

"Seungmin is my roommate. Aside from you and my brother, of the others, I've only ever heard of Hyunjin." Minho contributed, while Changbin nodded in acknowledgement.

"This is Jisung, my personal assistant and honorary little brother." Younghyun chuckled, nodding at Jisung while leaning more against Chan. Chan, in turn, reciprocated while he took his turn in introductions.

"And the last one left is my cousin, Felix."

"That explains how we all know them." Jeongin mused. "But how do they know each other?" 

A heavy silence blanketed the room as everyone's attention finally turned to the four who'd squeezed together on one couch, reluctant to let go of each other for even just a few minutes, for any reason.

Jisung shrunk under the attention, too many strangers looking at him expectantly reminding him too much of a crowd for comfort. Sensing his discomfort, Seungmin drew him back into a hug, comforting and almost shielding him from the rest of the room. 

"I know it sounds crazy, but… We met in our dreams." It was Felix who managed to muster the courage to speak up and explain their unlikely story, eventually. "We started dreaming about each other, and eventually figured the respective others were real people, who remembered and experienced the dreams the exact same way we did. And then… It developed from there, I guess?" That was the simple version, anyway. 

Despite knowing that at least some of their audience had personal experience, or at least heard of that kind of thing happening, Felix tensed in expectation of laughter, ridicule, or even anger. Instead, Chan nodded slowly in acceptance while the rest processed the information a little slower.

"So, that's why Seungmin's sleep schedule suddenly became so messed up, so unlike him…" Minho hummed eventually, surprising Seungmin with his smooth acceptance of the unlikely story.

"And why Hyunjin hyung became so sensitive to the topic of sleep and dreams… Not to mention his weird - and even scary - sleeping habits."

Chan nodded along, still, quietly confirming he had observed the same from his cousin, and completely missed the angred look out of narrowed eyes he got from Felix.

"You knew what was going on, didn't you. You met your boyfriend in the exact same way, right?" Felix’s voice was calm, but dangerously so, as he addressed his cousin. "Why did you never say anything? I literally told you- In the beginning, I told you about the dreams I was having. I told you too much, even. And you never said anything? Why couldn't you just say something, anything, to reassure me when I was freaking out, struggling; especially lately?"

Chan tensed as he finally noticed Felix’s anger, shrinking against his boyfriend as his expression turned apologetic. 

"I never said anything because, at first, I wasn't sure if what was going on was what I was thinking, since you mentioned multiple people and I had never heard of that happening before.” He tried to explain, appease Felix. “When it dawned on me, I was afraid of planting ideas in your head, of influencing the way you saw your boys, of putting pressure on you that could have led to ruining what you were building with them. And then… when I learned what was happening to your dreams, and what it meant… I couldn't possibly tell you and be the one to break your heart; especially since I was powerless to stop it. It would have been different, maybe, if you had just one-… But how could I have made you choose?"

Felix deflated slowly throughout Chan's explanation, searching for comfort in Hyunjin as he understood Chan's reasoning, and the struggle he had gone through, too. He was, after all, more than aware of how much Chan treasured him, too.

"What about you, hyung?" Finally, Jisung gathered the courage to speak up, too, questioning Younghyun. "You knew about it, too. At least about Felix, through Chan-ssi. Why did you never say anything?"

"I didn't." Younghyun answered calmly, though. "Nor did Channie know it was you Felix was meeting. Chan knew Felix was seeing at least three people, but I always assumed you were meeting only one, since neither of us had ever heard about anyone being connected to more than one person through their dreams. When we talked about you, it never crossed our minds that your cases could be connected, that you could be seeing each other. Even when I noticed the extra timezone conversions you sometimes accidentally left in my schedules, I didn't draw that conclusion. I just assumed that your person travelled a lot; since we do, too, it wasn't all that far-fetched."

Minho hummed in agreement when Younghyun finished.

"I, too, didn't suspect a thing. Innie mentioned Hyunjin's weird behaviour and I told him about Seungmin's, but neither of us would have imagined even in our dreams that it could be connected somehow." 

Seungmin shifted in his seat impatiently while Minho was speaking, anxious to divert the attention from them again.

"If you don't mind me asking… How is it that you and Chan-ssi came to be, after all?" He eventually asked, directed at Younghyun. It was Chan who answered, though.

"We dreamt about each other, met each other in our dreams, probably not unlike you did. And eventually we decided to meet up when we could. And the rest is history."

"But you ran away!" Jisung interrupted Chan's explanation, nearly jumping up as he pointed accusingly at Younghyun. To his, and everyone's, surprise, Chan laughed out loud in response, while Younghyun averted his eyes, ears tinting pink.

"He did. But I went after him, and since I knew his way of thinking quite well by then from our shared dreams, I found him and we talked it out."

"So, you have access to the dream world, too?" Hyunjin piped up, curious.

_ "A  _ dream world, yes. Not the same one as yours, though."

"Insomnia, my ass." Felix muttered under his breath, sending a petulant glare Chan's way. "You were just adapting your sleep schedule to Younghyun-ssi's."

Chan chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. "Caught!"

"But… You do still meet each other in your dreams, don't you? That means… The world doesn't just disappear after we meet like this, right?" Seungmin interrupted, steering the conversation back in the direction he had intended in the first place.

"No, on the contrary." Younghyun, recovered from his momentary embarrassment, reassured. 

"Really, though?" Hyunjin clearly doubted Younghyun's words. "Even if we never meet again? Because the way I see it… That we met up like this was a gigantic coincidence that we would never even have dreamt of, and it wasn't even our own doing. We'd already established that it would be virtually impossible for us to ever meet up once, never mind- never mind a second time, or-…" He broke off, suddenly choked up as the prospect of never seeing the boys he had finally found tonight dawned on the horizon of his imagination.

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Younghyun mused reassuringly, though. "There is a reason why you found each other in your dreams: you are fated to be together. And fate has made it so you would find each other outside of your dreams, too. It won't handle everything, you'll have to work for it, but it won't leave you to struggle on your own to be together for good eventually. It might be hard at times, but as long as you give it your everything, you will make it. And some of you have really been giving their everything and more already, maybe without even knowing it yet..."

Jisung couldn't help the confused look he gave Younghyun when his boss sent him a meaningful glance. Younghyun turned an almost conspiratory smile his way.

“I hope you won’t resign from your position as my personal assistant and insist on staying in Malaysia once I move the company headquarters to Korea.”

Jisung’s jaw dropped, his mind taking a moment to catch up; of course, that had always been Younghyun’s goal, but Jisung had never- He had never seen himself in the equation, never thought about what moving headquarters would eventually mean for him. And he didn’t have much time to process the sudden realization, since Chan picked up where his boyfriend had left off.

“I can’t wait to move in with you, once my music takes off and Felix is done with college and on his own two feet… But of course, I’d miss him terribly all the way on the other side of the globe, and yes, I would dare hope that he might want to accompany me on this journey… Now that he’s become fluent in korean, too. Also, moving costs would be  _ much _ lower if split at once than if we moved separately.” He winked at Felix, who spluttered, looking very much as if he was having trouble catching his breath.

“Objectively speaking, it would make sense for you to come back to Korea after med school, too. Work pays better and living costs are lower, so you can even pay your student loans back faster. Just in case you need to convince your parents…” Minho nudged Seungmin lightly with his foot, and Seungmin jumped, nearly falling off the couch in surprise, since he hadn’t expected to be addressed so suddenly.

Reflexively, Felix threw Minho a glare for upsetting Seungmin, and Minho quickly retreated his foot. 

“That’s all in the future, though. You have all the time in the world to think about it, and dream about it, of course!” Minho added hastily.

“Speaking of dreaming, I’m tired as hell.” Jeongin yawned at that, taking the chance at the break in conversation caused by Minho and Felix’s small altercation. Changbin was the first to agree with Jeongin.

“I agree with Innie. Shall we go to sleep? We can’t go back to our apartments tonight, but I was informed that all the housing units are safe. It was ‘just’ the rooftop shed housing the emergency generators and fuel tanks that got hit by lightning and caught fire. The rest of the building should be safe and we should be able to go back tomorrow once the fire department clears it.” 

Suddenly, movement came into the gathered group, and after a few moments of chaos, the sleeping arrangements were all figured out. It wasn’t even put in question that Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin would stay together for the night, and the other five generously let them have the apartment they had been gathered in. In no time, Changbin herded them out, bidding Minho and Jeongin goodnight as they set off to join their parents and brother, and the rest followed him to find their own temporary accommodations. 

Silence fell over the foreign rooms after Hyunjin closed the front door, staying rooted in his spot. Not for long, though; just until Seungmin came to take him by the hand and lead him to the bedroom Jisung and Felix had found in the meantime.

“The bed here should be big enough for all of us… We won’t even have to let go when we go to sleep.” Seungmin explained, and gradually, Hyunjin relaxed, letting Seungmin pull him with him to settle between him and Jisung. A hand snaked up on him from under the covers, searching for his own until fingers intertwined with his, and, recognizing it as Felix’s, Hyunjin finally felt like all was right in the world; or at least, in that moment, it was. 

“Who would have ever thought that it would be fire that would bring us together in the end…” He voiced the thoughts that had been on his mind for a while now.

Jisung chuckled, snuggling up to his back. 

“Who would have thought the people closest to us were conspiring behind our backs to get us together, without even knowing they were doing it themselves?”

Agreeing hums answered him. 

“It’s fate. It has to be…” Felix’s sleepy voice threw in, and they found it hard to disagree with him. 

“Do you think there is really a chance that we might end up together, for good, here, in the awake world, someday? Like… Actually? For real?” 

Hyunjin’s question was followed by a moment of silence.

“I- I think… After what- what the others said earlier… I think I might actually believe there is, now…” Seungmin admitted in a whisper. “It won’t be easy, and might take a while, but… I think… There is a chance. If that is what we all want, at least?”

“There is nothing I have ever wanted more, if you ask me.” Jisung was quick to agree. 

Felix hummed in agreement. “Me neither.”

A quiet sniffle sounded between them, and without asking, they all knew it came from Hyunjin. And without saying anything, they cuddled closer, holding him, comforting him.

“I don’t want to fall asleep.” Hyunjin confessed eventually, voice tight and wet. “I don’t want this moment to end. I just want to stay like this, with you, forever.”

“Oh Jinnie…” Felix sighed, tightening his hold on Hyunjin’s hand and stroking the back of it with his thumb. “Hey, it’s ok, though. If we fall asleep, we’ll just wake up in the dream world together again.”

A quiet gasp sounded from between him and Hyunjin. “Lixie is right…! We won’t have to fear not waking up there when we fall asleep anymore! Not if what Younghyun hyung said is true…!”

That settled it, reassuring even Hyunjin enough to finally relax, and after the eventful night they’d had, it didn’t take that long before they finally passed out, once they allowed themselves to.

***

Just like Felix had predicted, they ended up together in their dream world, one after another, minutes after falling asleep.

Seungmin had been the first, and deciding to trust fate to bring his beloved to him soon, he didn't wait in their bed for them to appear but decided to venture to the entrance of the cave and check the outsides for the first time in weeks. 

In a way, it felt like the first time he had laid eyes upon the new world, the vast expanses of the forest laid out at his feet, the undulating, infinite light green of the grasslands stretching beyond it towards the horizon on one side, the blue and gold of the sea separating the sky from the green of the forest on the other. 

No more murky emptiness, no more Nothing marring the view.

Seungmin breathed in deeply, letting the fragrant air fill his lungs as he took in the sounds of the forest, all back in place as if they had never been gone in the first place. The combined sensations, missed so dearly, nearly moved him to tears.

As he exhaled, it was shaky, until his breath hitched altogether when he felt a hand slip into his own. Opening his eyes, he saw Jisung standing next to him, his gaze lost in the scenery much like Seungmin's had been before he'd closed his eyes.

They stood in silence, clasped hands between them providing comfort and reassurance, serving to share their joy and relief equally.

Eventually, Felix and Hyunjin arrived, too.

"It's all back how it used to be?" Felix asked, but neither Seungmin nor Jisung could answer him for sure.

"It looks like it from here… And sounds like it." Jisung answered him just as quietly. “ Let’s hope it is.” 

Hyunjin swallowed audibly, eyes shaking as he took in the scenery.

“Please… I miss Ilex. I just… I want everything to be how it was before. If we-... When we have to part again, and not knowing when we’ll see each other again… When we can be together for good… I need this world to be ok. I need it!”

“We can go down and check if everything is back how it was, and call for Ilex and the others.” Felix reassured Hyunjin, passing an arm around his back to pull him into a side-hug. “And as for when we’ll be together again…”

“It’s going to take a while.” Seungmin answered, voice barely a whisper. “I only just started my course, and have five more years to go, minimum. I do want that doctorate, though, so… Seven, at best.”

“I’m going for the doctorate, too. I’ll be busy for five more years at best, too.” Felix adeed, causing Hyunjin to tense in his hold as he peered over at Jisung with a look that barely dared to hope. Jisung could only shrug helplessly, though.

“I’m fully dependent on Younghyun hyung. All I can do is work as hard as I can to help him make his company succeed enough that we can move the headquarters. But it’s still going to take a while; years, even.”

Hyunjin sagged, looking defeated, but he needed something, anything, to hold on to.

“But you want this, right? For us to all come together? Here, in… In Korea?” His entire being depended on the answers he would get to this question.

“I don’t care where it is, but I want you guys. In my life, forever.” Seungmin was quick to answer. “I want to get to know you, learn everything about you; from how you like your eggs in the morning to who leaves the toilet seat up at night. All your little quirks and habits, and learn to fit together, every day of our lives.”

“That’s what I want, too.” Jisung agreed, and so did Felix.

“I want what my cousin has… Not Younghyun hyung, but I want what they have, but with you guys. I want that drive to do everything I can to be together with you, that motivation to be a better version of myself for you. I want that knowing almost instinctively when you need me, and vice versa, to have your back and knowing you have mine in turn. I want cheesy good night texts and eventually, sleepy good morning kisses. Forever.” 

Hyunjin exhaled slowly, relieved. 

“That is what I want, too. And you’re right, I don’t care where that will be… All that matters is that it is with you guys.”

“To be fair, it’s most likely going to be here in Korea, in the end. Considering Younghyun hyung and Chan-ssi are planning to move here, and the way I see it me and Lix are going to be dragged along, somehow…”

“Will you wait for me?” Seungmin suddenly butted in, silencing the others with his sudden, obvious show of insecurity. “Even though I’m most likely going to take the longest to join you, and don’t even know how long it will be, even after I’m finished with my degrees. Will you wait for me, and still accept me even if it takes me years longer to join you? Even if I can only rarely be with you because of timezones?”

“Oh, Minnie…” Jisung moved to let go of Seungmin’s hand and hug him properly, at the same time as Felix and Hyunjin went to do the same. “Of course we’ll wait for you! We’re not complete without you!”

“No one gets left behind, Minnie… We’ll have to fight for this, but we’ll fight for you, too.” Felix reassured him as well.

“However long it takes you, Min, we’ll be here for you. Here, and in the awake world, too. I don’t know how, yet, but if we don’t have a deadline… We’ll figure it all out over time, right? And we’ll make sure you get to be with us, eventually, too, and we’ll be waiting and ready for you.” Hyunjin hugged Seungmin the tightest, drawing back to place a chaste kiss on his lips eventually. With that, finally, Seungmin seemed to believe them, and relaxed again.

Jisung smiled brightly when it was apparent that Seungmin felt better, being the first to step out of their group huddle, full of determination.

“Come, let’s go see what happened around here while we’ve neglected this world. I miss Eph, too, and I’m sure Starfall has a lecture ready for Min, as well!”

***

For three days, even after moving back to the building they had been staying in originally, they managed to be together, make time for each other and spend the nights together; physically, and in their dreams. 

Thankfully, Younghyun, Chan, and Minho and Jeongin, as well as their family, were more than understanding, too. 

Younghyun explicitly expressed his regret that he couldn’t extend their stay in Korea, and worked hard together with Jisung, taking on quite a bit of his workload, to make sure he could spend as much time as possible with the others.

Chan, too, did his best to excuse Felix from family gatherings, but there was only so much he could do. The tickets were also not bought by him, so he had no say in the extent of their stay, but he tried to make sure Felix got to make the most of it. 

Minho, on the other hand, managed to excuse Seungmin altogether from staying with his family in their family home in Gimpo, and for the rest of his stay in Korea, Jeongin offered up his room in his shared apartment with Hyunjin to him. Of course, the extent of their stay was not negotiable, either, but Seungmin was more than happy to be able to spend it all together with Hyunjin; and also of course, it wasn’t Jeongin’s room Seungmin stayed in as he temporarily moved into their apartment.

Despite the interruptions and not being able to stay together as four the whole time, those three days were pure bliss. For those few days, life was perfect, both in the awake world, as well as their dream world; which, actually, had been completely whole again for a while now as the stars had lined up in their favour once more, and they had only never noticed because they hadn’t left their cave whenever they had been there.

All too soon, though, those three blissful days came to an end, and they found themselves at the airport, about to be scattered across the whole world once more. 

Surprisingly, Jisung was the one who was able to keep it together the best as they bid each other goodbye, while Seungmin’s emotions got the better of him in a rarely seen display as he sobbed into an equally tearful Felix’s shoulder.

“We’ll make it. We will be together again, and I’m sure it won’t be as long until then as we think right now. I just… I know it.” Jisung reassured the others, voice tight but still collected. “I’ll make sure Younghyun hyung has lots of oversea schedules and meetings so I can come visit you in the meantime.”

Hyunjin chuckled through his tears, holding Jisung tighter. “Please come to Korea lots, ok? You need to scout locations for the new headquarter building, anyway. And production sites. And suppliers, resources… It’s always best to check them out in person rather than just online…”

“You are absolutely right, and I will pass that argument on to hyung just like that. In no time, I’ll be here to see you again.” Jisung nodded.

“Convince Younghyun hyung to visit Chan soon, too; and hide in his suitcase so you can come see me, too.” Felix joked while still sniffling, and Jisung reached out to hold his hand while never letting go of Hyunjin. 

“I will. And somehow, I’ll come up with a reason to fly to LA, too. We’ll never leave you behind, Min.” He correctly guessed Seungmin’s worst insecurity and made sure to reassure him once again as well.

“Are you guys ready?” Chan’s voice eventually intruded in their little bubble, and Jisung and Felix looked up to see him standing next to them with Younghyun right next to him, both looking about as bad as they felt, too.

“They are already calling our flight…” Younghyun explained to Jisung, apologetic, and Jisung’s confident façade crumbled as he latched on to Felix and Seungmin, not ready at all to let go. 

Eventually, he had to, though, as his and Younghyun’s names were called over the speakers, and then goodbyes were far too rushed before they were running through the airport to catch their plane.

They left a reeling Chan behind who had been no more ready to let go of Younghyun as Felix had been ready to let go of Jisung. Before they could gather their bearings, however, it was their turn to rush and run to catch their plane, too.

With the only two semi-put-together ones gone, Seungmin and Hyunjin could only cling to each other for as long as possible. Despite everything, Seungmin refused to make Minho run through the airport, though, and with one last desperate kiss, he bid Hyunjin goodbye eventually with enough time to make it to the plane in a not too hurried manner.

It was up to Jeongin to drag a nearly catatonic Hyunjin back home, but unlike what he might usually have done, he refrained from teasing Hyunjin about his dramatics. This time, he had a feeling that Hyunjin’s display of emotions was all too real, and he was not a cruel asshole, after all, to make fun of him for them.

***

Younghyun hugged Jisung tightly once they had sunk into their seats on the plane, finally allowing the younger to break down and let out his pain over the heartbreak of leaving the other parts of his soul behind for an undefined timespan again.

“I know, kiddo…” He murmured in his ear as Jisung sobbed against his chest, his own voice shaky. “I know… Let’s work extra hard to make it happen as soon as possible, alright?” 

Jisung tried his best to nod in agreement, and he wasn’t surprised to see Younghyun’s eyes glistening with tears, too, when he pulled out of the hug in an attempt to compose himself. That undid his resolve, though, and he launched right back into Younghyun’s arms, the hug now designed to comfort both rather than just one the other.

They needed this, now, both of them; that comfort that could only come from someone who was going through the exact same pain as they were themselves. 

***

Felix and Chan were silent as they sat in their seats, almost distant from each other, though not on purpose. 

“Maybe you can do an exchange year, or two, you know. There are programs for that-” Chan blurted suddenly, startling Felix. As soon as Felix caught up on what Chan was talking about, though, he interrupted him with a shake of his head.

“That’s expensive, Chan. We don’t have that kind of money…” 

Chan grit his teeth with a pained resolve, though. 

“If I pick up extra shifts-” 

Felix shook his head again, taking Chan’s hand in his as he fixed him with a serious look. 

“You need all the time you can get to make music and make it big like you’ve always dreamed of. No extra shifts. If you can wait for Younghyun, I can wait for my boys.” He declared with a resolve he didn’t know where it came from.

Chan whimpered, finally pulling Felix into his arms in a bone crushing hug. 

“It sucks to know that you’re going through the same pain I am, now. I wish you didn’t have to.” He whispered brokenly over his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears.

Felix hugged him back just as tightly, though managed to pat his back comfortingly. 

“Yeah, it sucks. But at least now I have something to wait for and work towards. There is hope now. That is more than I ever dared dream of before.” 

Chan squeezed him tighter, and Felix had half a mind to complain, but didn’t, in the end. Chan needed this hug as much as he did, and he could and would endure it; and he had a feeling many more hugs like this one would be following over the next who knew how many years. 

***

Seungmin walked through the airport with Minho, in complete silence. He didn’t think he would find the strength to talk any time soon without bursting into tears, and it was one thing to show that vulnerable side to the boys he literally trusted with his life, yet a completely different one to let Minho and all the random strangers around them see it.

They were in the line to board their plane, eventually, when Minho pulled out his phone and called his mother. 

“Mom? Yeah, we’re about to board.” He informed her. “Before I have to turn the phone off, I just want to make sure: about the half-mark celebration next year; I can have Seungmin as a flying buddy again, right?” 

Seungmin’s head snapped up in shock, shaking his head quickly, but Minho turned his back towards him. 

“That’s great, thank you! And for when I come before my practical internships start?” A short pause. “Ah, sweet! What about graduation? Too? Awesome!”

Seungmin wanted to stop him, but he stood frozen, unable to do more than gape at Minho’s back as his roommate continued to talk to his mother.

“Yeah, I told you already I might go for the doctorate there, too, but once I’m done I have to get back somehow, and I swear, I absolutely cannot fly alone-”

Seungmin wanted to curse at Minho, scold him and tell him to cut it out, but he wouldn’t do it where his mother could hear him. And with the way his heart was beating, erratically and full of incredulous but joyful anticipation and a hope that felt forbidden, he doubted he could put the necessary vehemence into his words that he’d need to make Minho believe he was genuinely upset, anyway. 

“Just say you love me and go.” Minho elbowed him lightly eventually, after he’d hung up the call, and before walking ahead of him onto the gangway. Seungmin could do little more than run after him, still too stunned to properly react in any form.

***

In the bus back to the city, Jeongin’s phone chimed with a text from his brother, and he smiled at the screen after reading it. 

Should he keep the news a surprise for Hyunjin? Or tell him now? 

Looking over at where Hyunjin was looking out of the window, looking not unlike a lost puppy in the rain, it was hard to keep the news to himself, but he left him to it for now. Nothing was set in stone yet, and it was best to leave it for now. Maybe closer to the date, though, or another time when Hyunjin really needed the pick-me-up down the line...


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And with this epilogue, this story comes to an end. My child is grown up and leaving the house... I am so emotional, I cried five times writing this chapter. You'll probably think "wtf why???" when you finish reading it, bc nothing about this is sad, but... I got attached, ok?   
> Pls love my child and send them well-wishes now that they are all grown up and independent!

**Five years later**

Seungmin was exhausted as he stepped off the plane, not having gotten a wink of sleep for the entire flight. He couldn’t wait to get to his hotel room and sleep for a solid twelve hours; at the very least. The other three would be awake while he slept, but he wasn’t worried about how to pass the time on his own in their dream world; in fact, he was looking forward to having lots of time by himself that he could spend just playing with Starfall’s little foal, in between tending to whoever needed his help in the forest. But mostly, he really just wanted to play with little Komorebi until he fell asleep on him. Really, there were few things as precious as a baby pegasus sleeping with their head in your lap.

First, he had to pick up his luggage, though. And unfortunately, it was taking ages to arrive. 

Little by little, the crowd of passengers thinned out around him, until he was the only one left standing at the belt that was transporting one burst-apart suitcase and a surfboard, both of which didn’t belong to him. And then, the belt stopped, and still no sign of his suitcase.

Great. 

Fucking great. 

Seungmin didn’t even have any battery left on his phone to contact any help, both the phone and his power bank empty by now. And so, with just his backpack slung over his shoulder, he started wandering through the airport in search of a helpdesk to go through the process of trying to recover his luggage. 

It took ages, seemingly, until he was free, but with a guarantee that his luggage would be here and delivered to the address he’d left behind until the evening of the next day.

There was nothing Seungmin could do about that, so he decided not to dwell on it, and just finally get to his hotel to get some  _ sleep. _

He hauled a taxi, and exhausted, fell into the backseat. The driver didn’t try to strike up a conversation, and for that Seungmin was grateful. He nearly fell asleep during the relatively short ride, but only nearly. And yet, it took him a moment to gather his bearings when they finally arrived and to dig out his card to pay the fare; and then, his card declined.

“What…?” Seungmin felt dread well up in him, but tried again; with the same result. “No. No, no, this can’t be happening…!” And yet, a third attempt remained fruitless, too. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” He pleaded with the driver. “I had no idea- I only just arrived in Korea, and I don’t have any cash on me… Unless I can pay you with American Dollar? Or- I’ll give you my address, my contacts, and I’ll make sure to pay you within twenty four hours, I promise!” 

The driver looked a little annoyed, a little tired, but pulled a form on a clipboard out of the compartment in his door to hand to Seungmin.

“Relax. You’re not the first one this happens to.” He sighed. “Just fill this out.”

Seungmin nodded, doing as instructed, and the driver handed him a copy of the form. 

“Just transfer the money to that account, follow the instructions here. Have a nice day.”

Seungmin nodded, ashamed, and apologized again as he got out of the taxi. The driver waved him off and just took off. 

That was so embarrassing… Seungmin felt like extending his intended sleeping period to twenty four hours.

Tired, he trudged up the stairs to the hotel lobby and headed to the front desk. After waiting for a moment, his turn came; and with it, the next unpleasant surprise.

“What do you mean, there is no reservation?”

The receptionist shrugged. “What I mean is that there is no one with that name or other credentials in our system. Not in the cancelled reservations or for another date, either. It hasn’t entered our system, ever.”

Seungmin couldn’t believe it.

“You can always book another room, if you want…”

The thing was, Seungmin couldn’t, not without a working card.

“Ah… No, thank you. Sorry for wasting your time…” He apologized, taking his ID back and stepping out of line. What was he going to do now?

Downbeat, he left the hotel again.

Really, what was he supposed to do now? No room, no money, no phone… He couldn’t even go to a coffee shop or anything to just sit and charge his phone until he could call someone, without money to order a coffee or something else. And his tired brain was really not up for finding solutions at the moment. 

When it started to rain - and not just a drizzle, but downright pouring - Seungmin was about ready to scream in frustration. In seconds, he was soaked, even before he could find a semblance of shelter under the awning of an expensive looking high-rise. 

Even that much luck didn’t last for long, though, before the door behind him opened.

“Sir, this is private property. You can’t stand here.” A private security official stepped out.

Seungmin took a deep breath, closing his eyes and willing the tears down again.

“Please, just until the rain stops?” He pleaded with a small voice.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. There is a café down the street this way, you can wait it out there. But not here.”

Except, Seungmin  _ couldn’t _ wait it out there, at the café, unless he had money to buy something, making him a customer. Which he hadn’t. And the tears of frustration were  _ really _ hard to hold back by now, he was too tired for all this shit-

“Seungmin?” A familiar voice suddenly asked. “Kim Seungmin?”

Seungmin couldn’t believe it, didn’t dare to believe it, and opened his eyes oh so slowly.

“Changbin-hyung?” He whispered in disbelief.

“Oh my, what happened to you?!” Changbin hurried up the steps, closing his umbrella as soon as he reached the awning. “It’s alright, I got this.” He dismissed the security guard, who shrugged and went back inside.

“You’re soaked! What are you doing h- Wait, you can tell me later! Let’s get you inside and warm and dry first!”

Seungmin didn’t question it, just letting Changbin take him by the wrist and pull him inside the building, to the elevators, and then out again at the top floor. Said top floor was one big penthouse, to which the elevator only even ascended through a special code, and apparently, it was where Changbin lived. 

The first thing he did was wrap a blanket around Seungmin, then dialled up the heating. 

“I’m dying to know how it comes that you are  _ here _ , in Seoul, with nothing but a backpack and looking like a soaked puppy, washed ashore on my front step… But first, you need to take a hot shower.” Changbin rambled, while gently pushing Seungmin towards a luxurious looking bathroom. “I’ll bring you some dry clothes, just take your time.”

Seungmin didn’t question it, just so immensely grateful to get out of his sopping wet clothes and under the spray of steaming hot water. If a few tears escaped him as he let the water pelt his face, no one had to know, and if he did take longer in the shower than a normal shower would have warranted… Well, Changbin  _ had _ told him to take his time, after all.

Eventually, he emerged from the shower, feeling warm and slightly more human again even though he was still tired. Just like Changbin had promised, dry clothes were waiting for him, and after getting dressed, he left the bathroom in search of his friend; friend, since he had gotten to know Changbin quite well over the last five years. He’d met him often when he was visiting Hyunjin, and it had been thanks to him bringing Felix along on a US trip that he’d seen Felix at all in the awake world during these years. Through it all, he’d gotten to know him better, and really come to cherish him.

“Hyung?” He called out when he feared to get lost in the huge penthouse.

“Here!” Changbin replied, poking his head out of a doorway. Seungmin hurried over, and was greeted by Changbin putting together a tray with snacks and tea.

“I thought you could use something warm to drink and eat. Come, let’s get comfy and then you can tell me what brought you here. Oh, and I put your phone on the charger, and your clothes in the washer. Hope you don’t mind.”

Seungmin shook his head; he didn’t mind at all. He really appreciated it, actually.

“I take it your boys don’t know you’re here...” Changbin prompted once they’d gotten comfortable on his ridiculously big and soft couch. Seungmin felt like never, ever getting up from it, ever again, and it took him a moment to answer Changbin with a shake of his head.

“The plan was to surprise them.” He elaborated quietly. “But I guess the only one surprised here is me, since everything has been going wrong ever since I landed…”

“Oh dear…” Changbin sighed. “From the beginning?”

Seungmin nodded, sorting his thoughts.

“So… Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of the day we first met, here, in Seoul.” 

Changbin nodded; he was well aware.

“And I finished my course. The original plan was to tack on the doctorate in the US, but… I got tired of being the only one left out all the time, and now that both Jisung and Felix moved here already… I was so frustrated one night, and on a whim sent my application to a few places around here, to do my doctorate here, too. And… I got accepted. In fact, I got into the best paying one, with the best conditions out of all the places I applied to, both here and the US. So, it would have been stupid to turn it down, right?”

Changbin could only nod in agreement, but Seungmin sighed, his gaze wandering out of the window and into the distance, unseeing.

“My parents didn’t think so. They got really pissed, told me to reject this offer and to accept one of the others, in the US. And then I told them I was planning on moving here, anyway, and…” He trailed off.

“Didn’t go well?” Changbin guessed, and Seungmin shook his head. 

“About as bad as anyone could imagine. They threatened to cut me off if I went through with this, with moving here, with so much as visiting here. Told me if I returned to Korea to never count on them again…” He sighed heavily. “At that point, I had already sent the majority of my stuff out to ship over here, and arranged the selling of the rest, plane ticket booked, everything in order. Including the hotel to stay in for the day before our anniversary, because I wanted to not look like a zombie when seeing them all together again in the awake world for the first time in five years. And I didn’t tell my parents any of that until right before I left to the airport, because I knew there would be drama; and I was right. But this is my life, I am the one who has to live it, and with the decisions I make. And no one else gets to decide for me; not anymore.”

“And you still haven’t told the others…” Changbin wagered, and Seungmin shook his head. 

“No. I still want it to be a surprise.”

“And you’ll need help with it, as far as I can see…”

Seungmin sighed heavily. “If you don’t mind…?”

Thankfully, Changbin beamed while shaking his head. “Not at all! Tell me what you need; I’m your man!”

Seungmin sagged in relief, nearly tearing up. After the awful last two days he’d had, Changbin was like an angel sent from heaven. And he felt little remorse and only relief when Changbin pried everything else that had gone wrong out of him and offered to handle it. 

Eventually, Changbin pointed him to a guest bedroom where he could sleep off the jet-lag before he had to leave for his afternoon commitments, and he was fast asleep before Changbin had even reached the front door on his way out.

***

“What’s up with you?” Changbin poked Jisung in the side, making him squirm and mumble something unintelligible, but he didn’t answer and continued sulking.

“He says Hyunjin and Felix are conspiring against him.” Chan translated for Changbin, without looking up from his monitor.

“They are!” Jisung grumbled, indignant. “They are being so secretive, hiding stuff as soon as I come into a room, locking me out of rooms, hanging up the phone when I come in… They are hiding something from me, and I don’t like it!” 

Changbin wasn’t sure, since he hadn’t had a chance to get to know Jisung  _ that _ well yet, given that he had only joined him and Chan in their music producing not too long ago and he’d only met him a handful of times before that, but he suspected that the younger was getting close to tears. Chan, too, must have come to that conclusion, since he finally pushed his laptop back a bit and paid attention to the two of them.

“Aren’t you hiding something from them, too, though?” Changbin reminded him, nodding at the lyrics sheets in front of Jisung. Jisung grimaced and then pouted again.

“That’s different. It’s an anniversary surprise!”

“What if their ‘conspiring’ is for one, too?”

Jisung thought about it for a moment, and then his pout intensified. “But why would they plan a surprise together and only single me out?”

Chan sighed then, ruffling Jisung’s hair from his other side. “Are you even sure they are planning something  _ together? _ Have you caught them talking to each other and then stopping when you come in? Secretive glances to each other? One of them distracting you while the other does something?”

“No…” Jisung admitted after a moment. “But…”

“Ji, don’t suspect them over nothing. They are most likely just preparing their own anniversary gifts and nothing else.” Chan didn’t let him finish his thought. 

Jisung turned his best lost puppy eyes at him. “Are you sure?” His voice was small, almost breaking.

“I am.” Chan reassured him, giving him a quick but tight hug for good measure. “Why don’t you go ahead and warm up your voice now so we can make the most of you being early today and finish recording those last bits we need? I’m going downstairs to get us some drinks and snacks in the meantime.”

Jisung nodded, and Chan left the room.

“Actually…” Changbin wondered, pensive, “Why  _ are _ you early today? Aren’t you and Younghyun-hyung still busy as hell setting your new headquarters up?”

A small, conspiratory smile danced in the corners of Jisung’s lips.

“Younghyun-hyung sent me here to keep Chan-hyung busy and make sure he doesn’t get home too early. He’s also planning something.”

Changbin’s eyes widened, excited but also dreading.

“Don’t tell me he’s finally going to pop the question! Please, I put so much money on Chan-hyung going first, I don’t want to lose that bet!”

Jisung shrugged, though. “I’m not saying he is, nor that he isn’t…”

Changbin let himself fall back into his seat. “Oh god… Do you think I can make Chan-hyung reconsider and bully him into proposing right now, before Younghyun-hyung has a chance?”

Jisung glared at him. “Don’t even think about it! It’s your own fault if you bet on the wrong horse. Chan-hyung is staying here and going nowhere!”

“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere… What’s going on?” Came Chan’s voice from the doorway, and Jisung actually squeaked in surprise; and dread.

“Ji needs your full support with recording and finishing his song today so he won’t allow me to whisk you away to keep me company during the trip to the other side of town I have to make later.” Changbin saved the situation with a quick white lie. Chan frowned, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I would have declined anyway. I’m all yours, Ji! I wanted you to try and sing a demo for me when we’re done with your song, too, so…”

“I’m going to warm up!” Jisung jumped up and bounced over to the recording booth, all too happy to have an excuse to remove himself from the situation and distract everyone from the previous topic. 

A few hours later, Jisung’s song was ready.

“They are going to love this song, Ji. Your boyfriends are so lucky!” Changbin praised him when they were done listening to the finished song one final time. Jisung took the compliment with a smile, which almost dropped off his face in favour of a squeak when Chan hugged him tightly from behind. 

“You’re so  _ cute! _ And you sing so well… I almost wish I could see you perform this for them tomorrow myself! If they don’t absolutely lose it and shower you in all the love and affection after this, I don’t know; get yourself a new set of boyfriends, because they clearly don’t deserve you!”

Jisung laughed, shaking his head. “Hyung, I would never! But… Do you think they will really like it…?”

“Absolutely!” Chan and Changbin chorused. “Really, Ji. Don’t worry about it. They’ll fall head over heels for you all over again, promise.” 

Jisung relaxed with a content smile, but it turned sad after a moment.

“I just wish I could play it for  _ all _ of them, at the same time, you know… It’s not the same if Seungminnie is just there over video call…”

“Oh, Ji…” Changbin sighed, while Chan hugged him a little tighter.

“I just miss him, you know… Stupid timezones mean I don’t even see him every night, and when I do it’s only for an hour, tops, and- and it’s been so long since I’ve seen him in person, awake… I just wish he could be here with the rest of us already, too…” 

Chan looked almost as sad as Jisung, and adjusting their chairs, he drew Jisung fully into his arms to let him hide the few tears that escaped him against his shoulder. Even since before Younghyun and Jisung had moved to Korea, too, during the past years, Chan had essentially adopted Jisung and never missed an opportunity to pamper and baby him when he happened upon the younger. Now that he spent a considerable amount of time with him due to them being in the same country, and Jisung being basically an extension of Younghyun as well as in their little music producing crew, the loving just didn’t come to an end. 

“It won’t be that long anymore before he’ll be with the rest of you, Ji. You’ve already made it through the majority of the time you had to spend apart. The day you'll all be together is only coming closer now.” Chan tried to reassure the youngest, to Changbin's great relief, before he messed up and gave away too much in his panicked attempts to dry Jisung’s tears. 

It was a good thing he had to leave, too, anyway, before he really slipped up, and he excused himself with a promise to pop in again later that night if they were still in the studio by then.

In between errands of his own, he got Seungmin’s taxi bill sorted, handled the rerouting of the delivery of Seungmin’s suitcase so it wouldn’t spoil the planned surprise for his boyfriends, and picked up a few changes of clothes for him, too, so he had something of his own to wear in case his suitcase didn’t arrive in time before the next evening.

He was on his way back to the studio in the evening when he got a call from a frantic Hyunjin.

“Hyung, I need your help!” He greeted him loudly, nearly making him drop his phone.

“And I need hearing aids, now. Thanks for blowing out my eardrum, buddy.”

Hyunjin made a contrite noise. “Sorry, hyung!” He almost whined. “I just- Jeongin flaked on me with some lame excuse about his doctorate mentor rescheduling meetings for tomorrow afternoon and evening, so he can’t help me with my anniversary surprise for my boys anymore, and I don’t know who else to ask who would have time and a big enough car…!”

Changbin exhaled slowly, trying to wrap his head around the sudden onslaught of information while he heard Jeongin complain loudly in the background that Hyunjin was being mean to him and it wasn’t his fault he couldn’t help him.

“O...kay. And what is it you need me to do?”

Hyunjin had clearly not been expecting Changbin to agree so fast.

“I-... Would you pick something up for me and drop it off at our place later tomorrow night? It’s a gift, but it’s way too big to hide it in our apartment without them noticing… Like, you’ll need the van to pick it up, it’s that big. And heavy. You might need someone else to help you carry it. Would you do that?”

Changbin hummed.

“Text me the address.”

“Really?!” Hyunjin squealed, and Changbin nearly dropped his phone again, wincing once more.

“Dammit, Hwang Hyunjin! Mind my ears, please!” He rubbed at his abused ear, passing his phone to the other one. “Yeah, really. Just text me when and where.”

“I love you, hyung!”

This time, Changbin had anticipated the squeal and pulled the phone away from his ear preemptively. 

“Yeah, yeah. Just go ahead and send me the details. I’m about to go up to the studio, Jisung is there. I’m hanging up.”

Hyunjin thanked him again, profusely, and Changbin rolled his eyes. There was a fond smile on his face as he hung up, though; there was little to nothing he wouldn’t do for his younger friends, really. And hat included the freckled boy that came bouncing down the stairs of the building their studio was in, just as Changbin started his way up.

“Binnie-hyung!” Felix beamed as soon as he recognized him.

“Hey, Lix!” Changbin could never contain a smile whenever he met the boy that was sunshine personified. “Came to see Ji?”

Felix nodded. “I dropped dinner off for him. And Chan-hyung, and you. I reckon it’s going to take you guys a while before you are done here today?”

Changbin raised a curious eyebrow at the hopeful tone.

“It sounds like you’re hoping that would be the case…”

Felix looked a little sheepish, averting his gaze before dialling his charms up to maximum and turning them against Changbin.

“Well, you see… It’s our anniversary tomorrow, and I could  _ really _ use a few more hours of the house to myself, so, if you could keep Sungie busy… I already have Jeongin keeping Jinnie away, but I need Sungie gone, too. ”

There was no way, in the world, in heaven, or in hell, Changbin would have been able to deny Felix his request; not when he asked like that.

“Consider it done.” He agreed easily, and found himself with an armful of Felix a heartbeat later.

“Thank you, hyung! I’ll save you cake from tomorrow!”

Now  _ that _ was a promise that would convince Changbin to commit any sort of crime for Felix! 

“Now, gotta go! And you better hurry up before those two eat your share of dinner, too!”

And  _ that _ was a threat to be taken most seriously, so Changbin quickly bid Felix goodbye and hurried up to the studio.

He was just in time, though dinner reminded him he had an important call to make.

“You’re leaving already?” Jisung asked him when he got up once more.

Changbin shook his head. “I have an important call to make.”

“This late?” 

“The most important call of them all.” Changbin nodded, and realization dawned on Jisung and Chan’s faces. While Jisung looked sceptical, Chan looked nothing but fond.

“Who would have thought  _ those two _ would become such romantic suckers, out of all of us, huh?” Changbin heard him mention as he left the room.

“If by romantic you mean ‘always horny’...”

Changbin chuckled to himself as he closed the door. Let them believe that; at least that meant no one would bother listening in on his calls with his boyfriend. 

Leaning comfortably against the wall a little further down the hallway, he dialled the one number he knew by heart.

“Hey, hot stuff!” His boyfriend greeted him, and Changbin grinned automatically.

“Hey, yourself. Are you on the way home yet?” 

“Nah. Why, you waiting for me?” 

Changbin could practically hear the eyebrow waggle through the phone. Well, so  _ maybe _ his friends had a point when they claimed they were always horny for each other.

“No, unfortunately.” Changbin sighed. “I just thought I should warn you; we have a guest.”

“Oh?”

Changbin hummed. “I left him sleeping earlier and he’ll still be around when you get home.”

“So, now you don’t even bother sending your hookups home after you’re done with them? I see how it is!” 

Changbin laughed, clearly hearing the joking tone in his boyfriend’s fake jealous voice.

“I was thinking about adding him in, actually. Just waiting for your approval, you know!”

“Awww, so considerate! Ok, I’ll let you know!”

“Please do!” Changbin chuckled, then sobered again. “Seriously, though, don’t mention him to anyone yet, ok? Keep it a secret for now.”

“Oh… ok?” His boyfriend sounded intrigued. “I can’t wait to meet that mystery guest now; might head home early, after all!”

Changbin smiled. “Do that. If he’s awake by now, I’m sure he’ll appreciate the company.”

“Ok. You’ll be home late?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok. I’ll just have to have fun with our mystery guest, in that case.”

“You do that.” Changbin chuckled again. “See you later. I love you.”

“I will! And I love you, too!” His boyfriend wasted no time to reply.

Changbin still wore a lovesick smile when he returned to the studio, earning knowing looks from his friends there. 

“Shut up.” He mumbled, suddenly bashful. “I’ve spent years enduring you and your boyfriends’ lovesickness without a peep, you can at least try to act as if you don’t see anything for once.”

Jisung snickered, while Chan cooed.

“We’re just happy for you, Binnie.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Changbin rolled his eyes. “Let’s just work on that demo, ok? You finished recording earlier, right?”

That was what they did, even though Changbin got distracted eventually by his phone going off with an influx of messages.

_ It’s a no from me _

_ Adding him to our relationship _

_ I don’t feel like dealing with three jealous boyfriends _

_ Also HOW DARE you let me walk into that unprepared!  _

_ I nearly had a heart attack!!! _

_ But also thank you for keeping it a surprise _

_ This made my day _

_ I missed him so much! _

_ Hurry home, we’re ordering late night snacks _

Changbin read the messages with a fond grin, only to get a nudge to his ribs.

“Hey, lover-boy. You still with us?” 

Changbin squirmed out of Jisung’s reach as he typed a reply.

“Unfortunately.” Changbin sent him a glare without heat. “Seriously, what am I doing here letting myself get bullied when I have the cutest boyfriend at home telling me he has late night snacks?”

“Ew.” Jisung made a face. “This sucks, I can’t even tell you you’re wrong and that  _ I  _ have the cutest boyfriends, since they are being conspiring little shits and absolutely  _ not _ cute!”

“At least one of your boyfriends brought you dinner. Mine just tells me to stay away from home.” Chan reminded him with a laugh. “Bin, can I crash at yours if he keeps this up? I’m too old for all-nighters; I’m beat.”

“Oh, me too?” Jisung jumped in. “We can have a sleepover! And I’ll see my nuisances as soon as I fall asleep, anyway…”

Changbin paled, though, shaking his head vehemently.

“Absolutely not!” He nearly panicked, surprising his friends, who gave him startled looks. Jisung’s morphed into one of realization and then disgust, though.

“Oh my- Never mind! I really don’t need to hear what you and hyung get up to! God, hyung, you are so-...” He broke off with a shudder.

“I didn’t say anything?!” Changbin defended himself, offended, and Chan patted his shoulder in understanding comfort. 

“You didn’t have to, Binnie.” He assured him, while Changbin grappled for words.

“I-...” He broke off, too, shaking his head. Whatever. They wouldn’t believe him anyway. And if that got them out of his hair and dissuaded them from wanting to come stay over at his place, it was whatever.

“It’s cute how you still get so flustered, though, Ji.” Chan grinned then, taking the focus off Changbin. “Do you and the boys still have that agreement, that you won’t do anything until-”

“Not until Minnie joins us!” Jisung confirmed. “Very much still in place!”

Changbin and Chan both nodded in understanding. It was cute that they stuck to that through all this time, so considerate of each other and wanting to make sure no one felt left out or behind. 

“Anyway…” Chan yawned, stretching. “I’m heading home.”

Jisung looked up abruptly, and Chan gave him a tired smile.

“You can tell your boss to pack up whatever he’s planning or at least hide it until I get into bed.” 

Jisung’s jaw dropped, and Chan laughed quietly. “You didn’t think I didn’t know why he let you off early today, did you.”

Jisung snapped his mouth shut, reaching for his phone gingerly. 

“Go ahead, I don’t mind.” Chan yawned again. “There’s a reason he would trust you with his life. Keep it up.”

Jisung felt awkward texting Younghyun while Chan was packing up, now that Chan knew what he was doing. He made sure to let him know that Chan knew he was planning something, too, and that he had found out all by himself. Younghyun’s answer came moments later, thanking him and telling him not to worry. And then, asked him if he needed a ride home. At the same time, Changbin nudged him, though.

“Come, I’ll drop you off at home.” He offered, and Jisung accepted gladly. While telling Younghyun not to worry since Changbin was taking him, he missed Changbin texting Felix that they were on the way.

***

When Changbin got home, he found his boyfriend and Seungmin chilling on the couches in the living room, eating their way through various take-out boxes.

“Binnie!” His boyfriend called happily, while Seungmin jumped up and ran over to hit Changbin.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Minho-hyung? I nearly had a heart attack when I saw him walk in! He was the last person I expected to see here!”

Changbin laughed, catching Seungmin’s fist before he could hit him again. 

“That’s exactly why. Surprise!”

Seungmin huffed, shaking his head, but stopped assaulting Changbin’s chest. Minho just grinned from his spot on the couch, waiting for Changbin to walk over to him for his welcome-home-kiss; which he did.

“I still can’t believe you really defied your parents like that and just shipped your whole life over and left.” Minho shook his head at Seungmin while getting comfortable pillowing it on Changbin’s lap.

“Well… Technically, my whole life was already here, anyway, so…”

“Urgh!”

“Cute!”

Minho and Changbin reacted at the same time. Changbin lightly hit Minho’s shoulder for the retching sound he’d made, prompting the older to amend his reaction.

“Ok, you have a point, that  _ is _ pretty cute.” Then he turned to mouth up at Changbin: “Sap.” Changbin shrugged, uncaring. He couldn’t help that he loved all that romantic stuff, and it wasn’t like Minho didn’t, either; he would know!

“So, now the plan is to surprise them tomorrow? When? How?” Minho turned back to Seungmin.

Seungmin shrugged. “I’m not sure about that yet. I figured I would just go over and knock on their door and ta-da! Surprise!”

Changbin hummed, shaking his head. “Ok, while you being there is surprise enough in itself, we can do better.” He decided. “First of all, we’ll have to make sure everyone is home, and you aren’t interrupting anyone else’s moment. Plus, they’ll want to video-call you for their surprises, so, we have to avoid that.”

Seungmin nodded pensively. “What do you suggest?” He guessed Changbin had a plan, considering he’d brought it up. And he wasn’t wrong. 

The next half an hour they spent plotting, in which Changbin didn’t reveal anything about any of the other’s plans he knew about, and Seungmin set up a schedule for their surprises with his boyfriends, in which his surprise was supposed to come first when he called them, even though it would be inevitable for Felix’s surprise to get spoiled to Jisung and Hyunjin before that. Seungmin didn’t mind. 

In reality, Seungmin wouldn’t call them at all, of course. Him and Changbin had come up with a quite different plan.

***

While Seungmin had expected the next day to drag on quite slowly, in the end, it didn’t. Between sorting out the issues with his card, a meeting at the University he was supposed to work at for his doctorate, lunch with Changbin and Minho, getting his luggage delivered and stressing over outfits, soon it was evening and time to leave after Changbin had picked up whatever kind of delivery he’d promised Seungmin’s boyfriends to drop off. Judging by how big and heavy it was, Seungmin expected it to be some piece of furniture of some kind, and barely refrained from cursing as he helped Changbin lug it up to their apartment.

At least, keeping him busy, he had no time to focus on getting nervous; which he very much would have, otherwise.

“Ok, action.” Changbin decided once they’d made their way up to the right door and caught their breath. Seungmin nodded and hid out of sight, while Changbin called Hyunjin. In no time, the other was at the door.

“Hyung? You’re early!” Hyunjin whisper-shouted, opening the door wide enough to let Changbin through. “We’re waiting for Minnie to call right now; it could be any moment now!”

Changbin hummed. “Even better, now he gets to see your surprise, too. Help me get it inside.”

Hyunjin helped Changbin, all while Seungmin stayed out of sight. 

“By the way, can you call the others over for a second?” He asked, then, and with a suspicious glance, Hyunjin called for Felix and Jisung. 

“Binnie-hyung? Did Hyunjin rope you into helping him with his surprise, too?” Felix chuckled, bounding over to give him a quick hug.

Changbin hummed, nodding. “He did. All four of you did, actually.”

Surprised looks were exchanged by the other three.

“All… four?” Jisung asked, carefully. Again, Changbin nodded, stepping out of the open door and into the hallway, just out of the way, and-

A small, surprised gasp was heard, otherwise it was completely quiet as three pairs of eyes widened in surprise at the figure now standing in their doorway.

Jisung was the first to move, though somewhat involuntarily. Tearing up, his knees gave out under him and he sank to the floor, muffling a sob behind his hands. 

Hyunjin stood rooted to his spot, unable to do anything but stare in shock, while Felix recovered first and surged forward to jump into Seungmin’s arms and nearly crush him with his hug.

Seungmin didn’t mind at all, returning the hug just as tightly.

He didn’t quite let go of Felix, eventually, just enough to nod past him and get him to loosen his own hold so they could move down the hallway to where Jisung was kneeling, still crying. The tears kept coming - in fact, became more - when Seungmin and Felix engulfed Jisung in their hug, pulling him up onto his feet again, and were still going when Hyunjin finally joined them, too.

No eye stayed completely dry as they held on to each other, so tight nothing would have been able to pry them apart, out of fear that it was all just an illusion.

None of them noticed Changbin leaving, too preoccupied with each other, but they all knew Changbin wouldn’t be mad about it.

Unexpectedly, Jisung was the first one to eventually push out of their group huddle.

“Dinner is getting cold…” He reminded everyone. “Lixie worked too hard on it to let it go cold.”

Seungmin tightened his hold on Felix. “You cooked for everyone?”

Felix nodded, a small, almost sheepish smile blooming on his face. “Yeah. I’ve been practicing a lot; I want to be able to do things like this for you guys.”

“Lixie always cooks for four people, no matter what he makes.” Hyunjin smiled with misty eyes from Seugmin’s other side. “It’s so cute.”

Felix blushed under his freckles, and Seungmin’s heart jumped; as it always did whenever any of his boyfriends did… anything at all, really.

“Well… We are four, so might as well practice the right amounts from the start.”

Seungmin couldn’t help himself as he leaned in and kissed Felix silly. Felix didn’t mind at all, and it was Hyunjin who eventually broke them apart. 

“Hey, no dessert before the main course! Let’s go!”

Laughing, they finally broke apart and Felix led them to the dining room where a large table was set for four people and loaded with enough food to feed a small army.

“I wanted to make it feel as if you were here already, so I set the table for you, too.” Felix explained with an almost shy smile. “And now… I can’t believe you’re really here!” He squealed, squeezing Seungmin’s hand. 

Seungmin’s heart fluttered, and he squeezed back.

“But I am. And I’ve come to stay.”

“Really?!” Hyunjin and Jisung yelled in unison while Felix gasped, and Seungmin nodded.

“Yeah. But I can tell you all about it over dinner.”

And he did, while they ate themselves through dish after dish, each more delicious than the one before, he told them all about his spur of the moment decision to apply for doctorate places in Korea, about the fight with his parents, the trip over and everything that had gone wrong, as well as Changbin ‘saving’ him and helping him with his surprise.

“And he said nothing all day yesterday when I was lowkey freaking out about feeling isolated from all of you! Rude!” Jisung complained loudly about that last part, which resulted in laughter, as well as a more serious note on how Jisung didn’t have to hide it when they did something to upset him, even if it was in the process of something like a special surprise. No gift or surprise was worth making Jisung feel bad in the process. 

With that, the topic was exhausted for the time being, and they finished the second round of dessert.

“I hope one of you two’s surprise is a group gym membership after this…” Seungmin sighed contentedly once his bowl was empty. “If we’re going to be eating as deliciously as today every day from now on, we’ll definitely need it.”

Jisung laughed while Felix basked in the flattery, and Hyunjin blushed, suddenly very quiet.

“Wait, really?!” Seungmin squeaked, sitting upright again abruptly once he noticed Hyunjin’s expression. Hyunjin quickly shook his head though.

“No! Nothing like that!” He was quick to deny, but neither of the other three really believed him.

“Now I really want to know what is in that heavy as hell box in the hallway…” Seungmin mumbled, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Hyunjin shook his head, though. 

“My surprise comes last, remember?”

“Yeah. I want to go now!” Jisung agreed quickly. “Though it’s definitely going to pale in comparison with Lixie and Minnie’s surprises…”

“Nonsense!” Felix was quick to reassure him. “It’s from you, coming from your heart, for us, so it will be just as valuable as everyone else’s gifts. This is not a competition, anyway!”

Seungmin and Hyunjin quickly agreed, and thus reassured, Jisung got up to get his laptop, a pair of speakers, and his guitar. 

“Chan-hyung and Changbin-hyung helped me with this, but it was still me who wrote the song and came up with the melody and such. They just helped me put it all together, and with recording, and- And finding the courage to play it for you. Anyway, this is my song, for you.” He introduced to his small but expectant crowd while setting everything up. After a moment of composing himself, he hit play on a file on the laptop, and as the first notes of the song started playing, joined in with his acoustic guitar, and sang over the backing track.

They had known Jisung sang, and that he rapped, but they had never really heard anything serious from him. Jokingly, yes, and singing or rapping along to songs on the radio, but never… Never in earnest. And they were completely blown away by Jisung’s voice, and the emotion he put into every word as he sang about the role each of them played in his life, how he saw them, past and present, and what he hoped for the future. 

At the end of every verse, they could hear Jisung’s voice cracking ever so slightly, but he managed to recompose himself before the next one started. In the middle of the last one, the one about his dreams and hopes for them together, his voice cracked and didn’t recover, though, so he let them listen to it from the backing track from the file on his laptop alone while trying to regain his voice. When the last note faded, he found himself in Hyunjin’s arms before he knew what was going on, while the other shook with barely suppressed sobs of his own.

“That was  _ so _ beautiful, Sungie…” Seungmin found his own voice cracking. “I never knew… wow…”

Jisung smiled sheepishly with damp eyes while he gently rocked Hyunjin in his arms.

“Thank you…” His smile shook a little. “I’m sorry I couldn’t sing it to the end. I didn’t-... I didn’t expect my wish to come true so soon, and I got really overwhelmed suddenly.”

“Oh, Sungie…!” Felix cooed, coming around the table to hug Jisung, too, and Seungmin wasn’t far behind. 

By the time they had all huddled together again, exchanged small kisses and loving pets, Hyunjin had recomposed himself, too, and cleared his throat after a deep breath.

“Well… I… I’m for a little change of mood, so… Can I give you my surprise yet?”

That got him the attention he wanted, peaking the other’s curiosity, and after disentangling from each other, they followed Hyunjin to the hallway by the door where Changbin had helped him deposit the huge, heavy box.

“It’s too small in here to open it.” Hyunjin mused after a quick look around. “Help me carry it to the big bedroom?”

“The… bedroom?” Jisung asked, eyebrows shot so far up they disappeared under his bangs. 

“Yeah. We’ll need room to open this.” Hyunjin answered as nonchalantly as he could, though his ears tinted red as he said that.

“You… You didn’t get us a sex swing, did you?” Seungmin asked, as casually as he could muster. Hyunjin tripped over his own feet, stumbling into the next closest wall while Felix laughed hysterically and Jisung choked on his spit.

“Kim Seungmin!”

“What?!” Seungmin asked back in the same tone. “You’re being so secretive and weird about it, and this box is heavy and big enough to be something like that!”

“How do you know what size and weight a box for a sex swing is, Kim Seungmin?” Felix threw in then, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “I thought we had decided to wait for each other!”

Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Unrelated. I can know what a sex swing looks like up close without ever having had sex before, you know.”

“Can we please stop talking about sex swings? This is  _ not _ one!” Hyunjin interrupted them, tripping over his words with a completely scarlet face. “If you don’t help me right now I’m calling Changbin-hyung to take this back to where he picked it up from!” He added with a pout, and Jisung put a placating hand on his arm.

“Come, I’ll help you.” He offered, and together, they carried the large box to the big bedroom. The apartment had five, one for each of them, so they wouldn’t have to completely give up any kind of privacy, and a big one meant to be shared between all of them. The latter was taken up by one huge bed, pretty much, on top of which Hyunjin and Jisung deposited the box. 

“Ok, you open it.” Hyunjin stepped back, handing out two pairs of scissors. Felix and Seungmin took them and went about cutting the box open. 

It fell off what looked like a big, plastic-wrapped roll, with no further indications. 

“What-”

“Open it. But careful. Sungie, you should sit on top of it while they cut it open, just to make sure…” Hyunjin adverted, and curious, Jisung climbed on top of the bed and the roll.

“Oh my- I think I know what this is!” Felix exclaimed suddenly, and cut faster at the plastic wrapping it tightly. 

In the blink of an eye, with the restraints finally weakened enough, the roll suddenly shifted, and before anyone could blink, it unrolled on the bed, leaving Jisung sprawled out on top of it. 

“What the-!” He managed to ask, disoriented, as he sat up.

“A mattress!” Felix exclaimed. “I knew it!” 

With one leap, he was in Hyunjin’s arms, hugging him tightly.

“No more sleeping in the crack between mattresses, oh my gosh!” He squealed, jumping excitedly before letting go of Hyunjin and leaping on top of the bed, the mattress, and Jisung, tackling him down.

“Hey! Let it inflate first, maybe?” Hyunjin laughed, before an elbow nudging him in the ribs interrupted him.

_ “Now _ I see why you blushed earlier when I mentioned the gym membership…” Seungmin lifted an eyebrow suggestively, and Hyunjin spluttered; once again. This time, he didn’t deny it, though, and Seungmin found that particularly sexy. So much so that he couldn’t resist pulling Hyunjin down into a decidedly hot kiss. 

“Ok, before this gets out of hand-!” Jisung interrupted them, wedging himself between them with his full body. “We have the remains of dinner to clean up, and then we have to get the old mattresses out from under this one. And make the bed. Wait, do we even have sheets this big…?”

Hyunjin nodded, indicating the bottom of the box, where a smaller box lay unnoticed and forgotten. “I ordered some with the mattress.”

“You, my dear, are amazing!” Jisung grinned, then hopped over towards the smaller box and tore it open to find the sheets. “Split tasks?” He suggested.

“I volunteer to clean up the dinner table.” Seungmin announced, stepping back. “If someone shows me where everything goes.” 

Felix hurried to his side, and thus the teams were formed. 

While Felix showed Seungmin to the kitchen, and superficially around the house that he had until now only seen over video calls, Hyunjin and Jisung wrestled with the mattresses in the bedroom, lugging the old ones to the front hallway to make room for the shiny new one. 

“Will you be ok sleeping with all of us immediately, during your first night here with us?” Felix inquired carefully as they were cleaning up. “You know no one expects you to if you’re not ready for that yet, you know…” His concern warmed Seungmin’s heart all over, but there was no need for it.

“There is nothing I would love more, Lixie. I’ve been waiting for this day for ages! I can’t wait to sleep with all of you…”

When Felix raised an eyebrow, questioning, and tentatively suggestive, Seungmin met his gaze head on, not backing down a single millimeter. And Felix appreciated it, even though he was the first to avert his gaze.

“You know, we’ve been waiting, and really holding back… But I would be lying if I said it was easy. If we don’t have to anymore, that would be such a relief!”

Seungmin huffed quietly. “I never said you couldn’t; this was you guys’ idea. I told you I wouldn’t mind, if you-” He broke off when Felix covered his lips with a finger to shut him up.

“I know what you told us, and I know it’s a lie. Which is exactly why we waited. We would never want you to feel left out or left behind.”

Seungmin knew why he loved these boys, he had many reasons, and that right there was one of them. Before he could get overcome with emotions, though, Felix nudged the dishwasher closed with one last flourish and then took Seungmin by the hand, tugging him out of the kitchen with a hint of impatience and expectancy. 

“Come, let’s see how far the others have gotten!” 

***

It was late, very late into the night, before the first of them woke up in their second little home in the cave in the dream world; and not because Jisung and Hyunjin hadn’t been done exchanging the mattresses and making the bed anew by the time Seungmin and Felix had joined them, no. 

Felix sighed contentedly, but pouted when he found the space next to him empty still on both sides. He wanted cuddles, and had he fallen asleep peacefully, safely wrapped up in Hyunjin’s arms, now he dearly missed that contact.

“Hurry up and fall asleep already!” He whispered into the empty cave, shuddering lightly; not with cold, but out of lack of another body’s warmth close to him. 

“I’m here.” Jisung announced, scooting over and right into Felix’s arms as he turned around. Felix beamed at him, holding him close and settling down comfortably once more.

“Do you reckon we’ll make it to the entrance of the cave today? Or are we going to stay here the whole time…” Jisung wondered, and Felix shrugged.

“No idea. I don’t mind either option. Though… I don’t feel particularly like moving much…”

Jisung chuckled, his hand trailing down Felix’s side until it rested on his hip, where he stroked softly with his thumb until it slipped under Felix’s shirt.

“As wonderful as that promise seems, I don’t think it’s a good idea right now…” Felix mused, and Jisung chuckled.

“I know. I was just teasing.” 

“Little shit.” 

“That, he is.” Hyunjin slung an arm over Jisung’s middle, pulling him back against himself before kissing his neck and quelling all of Jisung’s protests before they could arise.

“Minnie?”

“Here.” Seungmin answered the question aimed at Hyunjin, cuddling up to Felix in a similar fashion to how Hyunjin was holding Jisung. “Are we just going to stay inside all day today, or are we going out?”

Felix grimaced. “I don’t want to move…” He whined, earning somewhat concerned looks from the other three.

“Are you ok?” Hyunjin asked tentatively, but Felix nodded.

“Yeah. Just lazy.”

“You can always stay in…” Seungmin ventured, but Felix shook his head.

“No, if you’re going out, I’m coming with you.”

“We don’t have to go far…” Jisung suggested, shrugging when Seungmin and Hyunjin gave him questioning looks. “What? I’m feeling lazy, too. And I don’t want to bother Eph and make him carry me around just because I’m lazy. He’s busy enough with his pride.”

“Yeah, Faisca is nearing her burn day again, I don’t want to rush her into it by asking her to carry me, too. She’s a handful when she comes back, especially when she burns against her will.”

Seungmin hummed pensively, though.

“I was really looking forward to spending some time with Komorebi, though…” 

Hyunjin chuckled, nudging Seungmin teasingly. “You dote on that foal as if he was your own son!” 

Seungmin nudged him back.

“He might as well be! But at least I don’t act as if Starfall is my lover, too…!”

Hyunjin spluttered, while Jisung and Felix laughed. “Hyunjin and Ilex, sitting in a tree…” Jisung sang, before Felix burst out: “That’s gotta be a big ass tree…!”

Together, they burst into laughter again, this time joined by Seungmin.

“I hate you guys…” Hyunjin sighed, though without any heat or sincerity behind it. His ‘hate’ only lasted as long as it took Jisung to turn around and plant a big fat smooch on his cheek, too. 

“Good to know that you guys become fifty times sillier than usual in nights like these. I’ll keep that in mind.” He sighed, shaking his head, but Jisung pulled him down into another kiss.

“What are you gonna do about that, hm?” He challenged, but Hyunjin only shrugged, letting him kiss him again.

“Anyway, I’m going out to see Starfall and Komorebi. Come if you want, or stay here; whatever floats your boat.” Seungmin announced, getting up.

“Bully.” Felix pouted, but got up, too, followed by Jisung and Hyunjin. Seungmin grinned knowingly, all too happily leading the way outside.

For a moment, they paused on the ledge in front of the cave, letting their gazes wander over the forest, the grasslands in the distance, towards the ocean behind it all, and felt the wind coming from the mountains behind them.

“Do you guys still remember the first time you saw all of this… All those years ago?” Seungmin asked quietly, sobered all of a sudden and quite melancholic. “Who would have thought back then that this is where we would end up being, now…”

“That wasn’t even seven years ago, grandpa.” Jisung elbowed him lightly. “Quit the dramatics. Did you want to go see your baby horsey now or not?”

Seungmin glared at Jisung, who ducked behind Felix and out of Seungmin’s reach with a giggle. Hyunjin caught Seungmin when he went to dive after him, holding him in place.

“Minnie, look! Komorebi…!”

Seungmin gave up, following with his eyes where Hyunjin was pointing.

“He’s flying!” He gasped, freeing himself from Hyunjin’s hold to run down the side of the cliff and make his way over to the clearing where the little pegasus foal was making his first attempts at flying. 

“He’s such a  _ dad!” _ Jisung chuckled, amused, and Felix joined in. Hyunjin just looked after him fondly, though.

“He would make a great dad, let’s be honest.” He mumbled, earning disbelieving looks from the other two.

“I swear, we sleep with each other  _ once _ and you go and start thinking about children…!” Jisung shuddered. “Can I just slam the brakes here real quick? I am definitely not ready for  _ that!” _

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Hyunjin rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “Calm down, Sung.”

“Yeah, Sung.” Felix imitated Hyunjin, nudging Jisung. “Besides, I have great news from Biology for you: there is, like, no risk of you getting pregnant, anyway, so-”

Jisung interrupted him with a shove, huffing.

“Oh shut up!” He griped, stomping his foot, to which the other two laughed. “Let’s go catch up to Min. He does have a point: his son  _ is _ cute as hell!”

“As cute as Eph’s babies?” Hyunjin challenged as they started down the side of the cliff.

“Never!” Jisung stated with finality, just as he recognized the shadow that was approaching them, and jumped off the side of the cliff, just to land safely on the back of the mentioned manticore. “Have fun walking, losers!”

Hyunjin shook his head as he and Felix continued their way down the cliff on foot. 

“You can call Ilex over, I don’t mind walking on my own.” Felix encouraged Hyunjin, but Hyunjin shook his head.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll call him when we arrive. I like spending time with just you, too, you know.”

Warmth bloomed in Felix’s chest at the simple but meaningful words, and he was sure that would never change. But…

“I like spending time with just you, too, but I’m also not losing to Sung like that!” Felix declared, determined, before holding on tighter to Hyunjin.

“Lix-!” Hyunjin barely had time to protest before Felix conjured a wind strong enough to transport them from the cliffside to the forest clearing in virtually no time at all.

“I  _ hate _ when you do that!” He coughed once they had firm ground under their feet again, but Felix paid him no mind, already busy taunting Jisung who was only just arriving with Eph. That was, until an indignant huff from Starfall had them both shut up very quickly. 

“You’re startling Komorebi!” Seungmin glared, too, petting the small foal comfortingly. The little pegasus didn’t look startled at all, though; in fact, he took that small moment of distraction from Seungmin and Starfall do dip out from between them and bounce over to the edge of the clearing, into the shadows, and straight under the nose of a massive dragon.

A gasp was heard, and then a tail wrapped around the foal protectively. 

“He’s so small!” Ilex cooed, lowering his nose just far enough for Komorebi to smell it. “Tiny hatchling…!”

“He’s not a  _ hatchling,  _ dummy!” The scratchy voice of Faisca, completely lacking its usual musical quality due to her being so close to a burn-day, cut through the underbrush from where she was precariously balancing on a low hanging branch. “He’s a- a- What’s it called, the little ones from mammals? Larva?”

Laughter broke out across the clearing, along with a string of carefully worded, very indignant insults from the adult Pegasus mare present, and some less sophisticated ones from Seungmin. They weren’t taken to heart, though, by anyone. They knew each other far too well, and were too close, to truly be offended. 

Case in point, not half an hour later, the foal was peacefully asleep sprawled across the coils of a loudly snoring Ilex’s tail, while Felix was busy untangling some knots in Starfall’s mane, Hyunjin and Faisca were discussing the pros and cons of setting things on fire when they were annoying (hear: Faisca was strongly in favour, while Hyunjin was strongly against it), and Seungmin was giving Eph advice on how to go about belly aches in baby manticores. Peace reigned supreme between them once more, and Jisung observed the whole scene with a fond smile, sitting a little off to the side.

He may have interrupted Seungmin earlier when he was getting all emotional, but really, he had only done it to save himself from the onslaught of emotions it would have brought if he had let him continue. He was far too affected, himself, when he started thinking about how everything had started, when he had first woken up in this world. How he had fought all night long with Hyunjin, and everything shaped up to become quite the fiasco as he found someone who would have made a formidable enemy. And then, how that had changed almost immediately with Felix’s arrival. And then again, when they’d found Seungmin. How he had loathed his own powers in the beginning, and now… Now he thrived on the peace and happiness he could soak up though them when he was with the people he loved; both here, and when they were awake. 

And now, he finally had them all with him, too. Awake and asleep. Almost like-...

Would he dare finish that thought-?

Would he-

Like a dream come true.

He chuckled to himself, shaking his head at his own lameness. At least no one had heard him, so no one could roast him for it. A loving roast was still a roast, after all! 

And yet, he wouldn’t change the loving roasts he could now get from all three of his boyfriends, awake or asleep, for the rest of his life, for anything in the world. In both worlds.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to find out how to have me write a story for you, too, you can find out on my twitter [@writtenonwings](https://twitter.com/writtenonwings)


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